Afghanistan: U.S. Successes and a Stubborn Insurgency

U.S. and Afghan army forces fought several battles with the Taliban July 26-27 in south-central Afghanistan, resulting in more than 50 militants killed, 25 captured and a major weapons cache destroyed. The fighting was the result of an ongoing offensive operation in the area that is part of the U.S. strategy to prevent the Taliban and al Qaeda-affiliated militias from disrupting elections scheduled for September. Despite these recent successes, however, insurgents in Afghanistan have a lot of fight left in them.