How will Taliban gains in Padistan effect Afghan fight?

Washington Times:

Afghans are watching with a mixture of sympathy, satisfaction and fear as the Taliban that has menaced their country for years makes gains across the border in Pakistan.

"Now they know what we have been dealing with for so many years," Kabul carpet merchant Rauf Hamed said as he waited for his first customer of the day at his downtown shop. "The terrorism, the suicide attacks - they are killing themselves."

As fighting intensified in Pakistan on Monday, however, Afghan and U.S. security specialists expressed concern that the growing militancy of Taliban forces in Pakistan will boomerang against Afghanistan as an additional 21,000 U.S. troops arrive. The presidents of both countries will meet with President Obama at the White House on Wednesday to discuss the deteriorating situation.

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Monday that he is "gravely concerned" about Taliban gains, although he said Pakistan's nuclear arsenal is safe for now.

"The consequences of their success directly threaten our national interests in the region and our safety here at home," Adm. Mullen said.

The Taliban, in violation of a peace accord in the Swat Valley 100 miles from the Pakistani capital, attacked an army convoy Monday, killing a soldier and wounding two others, and unleashed more attacks in the former tourist region's main city, Mingora.

"The militants have launched fresh attacks. Security forces are exchanging fire with them at various places," Swat's top official, Khushal Khan, told the Associated Press.

Waheed Muzda, a security analyst in Kabul, said the Swat deal was bad news for Afghanistan because it permits the Taliban to deploy more of its foot soldiers to the Afghan front as the summer fighting season approaches.

Dismissing the notion of two Taliban forces, he said that these groups all receive direction from Mullah Mohammed Omar, the one-eyed cleric who founded the movement in Kandahar and is now thought to be in Pakistan.

"The situation in Pakistan is worse for Afghanistan, not better," Mr. Muzda said.

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The activities in Pakistan reflect the Taliban's weakness in Afghanistan following the US troop buildup and the need to solidify their sanctuaries across the border in Pakistan. With the current Pakistan position opposing US troops in Pakistan the Taliban see an advantage in fighting there at this time. We should continue of efforts to decapitate Taliban leadership with the drone attacks. We will also need to stop infiltration by setting up ambushes along the routes used by the Taliban.