Enemy morale suffers

Centcom:

Intelligence reports indicate some pockets of low insurgent morale, with some insurgent fighters reluctant to keep fighting and some refusing to assume district commands when commanders are captured or killed.

The low morale among fighters and insurgent leaders can be linked to ANSF and ISAF successful security operations. Coalition and ANSF forces conducted more than 2,800 counter-terrorist operations over the past 90 days, killing or capturing more than 365 insurgent leaders and 2,386 fighters. These counter-insurgency successes have also led to a growing sense of distrust among insurgent fighters, their heightened fear of spies, and increased suspicion between rival tribes.

“While the coalition strength and capability of the ANSF are on the rise, we are seeing evidence of low insurgent morale, which is affecting their capability across the country,” said Brig. Gen. Josef Blotz, ISAF spokesman. “The coalition will continue to neutralize insurgents and eliminate their safe havens, expanding areas that are secure enough for improved governance and development.”

One specific example of this trend is the Marjeh District Taliban commander, Mullah Niamat, who openly acknowledged to his fellow insurgents that the Taliban is losing Marjeh and their chances of winning are poor. According to intelligence reports, his assessment was based on battlefield losses (insurgents killed or captured by the coalition forces) and increasing resentment of the insurgent methods by average Afghans.

“The increases in troop strength and continued growth in capability allowed coalition forces to conduct 83% more kinetic operations in July 2010 than we initiated in July 2009,” Blotz said. “We are intensifying our campaign in areas previously held by the insurgents, including the Central Helmand River Valley, in and around Kandahar City, and in the vicinity of Baghlan in northern Afghanistan.”

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It is the cumulative effect of the additional troops and the attacks on leadership targets by special ops that is effecting the willingness to step into a role that will make you even more of a target than you already are.