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This article addresses incidents in the north of Afghanistan from April 2009 to present. While northern Afghanistan is relatively peaceful compared to the all-out war zones in the south and east of the country, the security situation in several provinces has deteriorated and prompted the German-led Regional Command North to launch a series of operations to take on the rising insurgency. Concerted operations began after an insurgent attack on PRT Kunduz only minutes after German Chancellor Angela Merkel left from a visit to German troops.〔Deutsche Welle ()〕 Meanwhile, American units have reinforced ISAF's presence in the north of the country, effectively doubling the available assets there and allowing a more aggressive approach towards the insurgency. By the end of 2010, coalition forces had regained control of the Chardara district after the German-led Operation Halmazag. == Situation == Northern Afghanistan was regarded among the safest areas in the country after NATO troops had commenced an increased presence there in 2003, with places such as Kunduz earning the nickname "Bad Kundus" (roughly: Kunduz spa) among German troops for the notable absence of greater threats to peace and security. Dangerously restrained and considerably under-strengthened forces - especially from Germany and Hungary - were not able to maintain public order in rural areas, though. Also, a Pashtun minority in several regional pockets did continue or just start to support resistance against dominating ethnic groups and foreign troops. These conditions allowed insurgents to re-infiltrate the north and threaten a key line of communications between the northern border of Afghanistan and Kabul, the capital. Due to similar problems in the area of responsibility of Regional Command West other insurgent groups and bands of criminals were able to get a foothold in the far west of Regional Command North as well. Qari Bashir Haqqani, the Taliban commander for Kunduz province, vowed in 2008 already to beef up his men's efforts against the Germans. Reluctant to spoil for a direct engagement, the Taliban mainly relied upon suicide bombings and improvised explosive devices, killing three Germans over the year and wounding more than thirty. For 2009 they would eventually change their tactics. German Chief of Defense Wolfgang Schneiderhan predicted in late April that the war against the Taliban was about "to get a new quality":〔MDR ()〕 Until 2009, German troops were only involved in a handful of firefights with Taliban militants. Between April and June, the number of direct contacts had already topped the total of the seven years before. A similar development struck Faryab province and the surrounding districts: Having already taken up actions to put the Taliban at rout, Norwegian forces saw themselves increasingly threatened by insurgent activities. With casualties rising, the German leadership was prompted to revise the rules of engagement of its troops in early 2009. The German military began joint operations with Afghan security forces in accordance to the "Afghan-face" strategy〔Washington Independent ()〕 of ISAF in April 2009 and continued to conduct own operations to improve the security as well as supporting other allies in their own struggle. By 2009, there were three major hotspots: the insurgency of the Taliban in Kunduz' Chardara district, the presence of armed militants in Baghlan province and the militants' activities in Faryab province. Following the Kunduz airstrike against two captured fuel tankers in September 2009, Germany reclassified the Afghanistan deployment in February 2010 as an "armed conflict within the parameters of international law", allowing German forces to act without risk of prosecution under German law. In early 2010 as well, US troops were poured into Northern Afghanistan and Regional Command North upgraded to be led by a major general in the future.〔Die Zeit ()〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Counterinsurgency in Northern Afghanistan」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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