Afghanistan attacks underscore insurgents' growing reach

Two attacks Monday in western and northern Afghanistan underscored the growing reach of the country's insurgency, which now stretches far beyond its early bases along the border with Pakistan. That expansion–as well as more effective use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs)–shows a growing sophistication on the part of the insurgency, and has raised the stakes ahead of the upcoming presidential election. "Everything has gotten much more sophisticated. These are very well trained guerrillas now. These are not rag-tag village peasants any more," says Ahmed Rashid, author of "Taliban." A remote-controlled bomb Monday killed two policeman and eight civilians in western Afghanistan, a once relatively calm section of the country. In another quieter area, the north, insurgents ambushed Korean road engineers, killing one of their Afghan drivers. As such areas become contested, the security situation is beginning to resemble a sprinkled donut, with peace prevailing mostly in ethnic Hazara strongholds–which suffered heavily under the Taliban–in the center of the country and in scattered provincial capitals.