6.07.2005

And Remember the Taliban We Defeated, Completely Wiped Out?

Ah-yup. Them.

Afghanistan - A mosque suicide bombing and an attempt to down a U.S. aircraft signaled the start of attempts by al-Qaida and the Taliban to destabilize legislative elections, the presidential spokesman said Tuesday.

The warning by President Hamid Karzai's spokesman, Jawed Ludin, of efforts to derail the Sept. 18 elections follows a surge in violence, with more than 200 suspected rebels killed in three months, according to U.S. and Afghan officials.

Ludin said a June 1 suicide bombing at a mosque in the southern city of Kandahar that killed 20 people, and the attempt to shoot down an American aircraft with a shoulder-launched missile on the same day were aimed "to create maximum effect ... maximum shock among the people."

"The remnants of the Taliban, al-Qaida elements ... have chosen this time to obviously set a plot in motion," he said. "They may have gathered all their resources."

Remnants, eh? Just 3-4 left, like the Iraqi insurgents. Right?