Taliban expands grip over northern Afghanistan

A road snaking through the lush green valleys of northern Afghanistan is festooned with cheerful billboards depicting Afghan soldiers guarding groups of smiling civilians. Yet, this idyllic region, patrolled mainly by NATO's 4,000-strong German force, has turned into a battlefield again. "The Taliban have made a comeback in several northern provinces," said Mohammad Omar, governor of northern Kunduz province. "The local government here needs more foreign troops in order to root out the Taliban from Kunduz." Tucked away in the alpine meadows north of the Hindu Kush, Kunduz has been quiet since U.S.-backed forces ousted the Taliban from pockets of Pashtun-led resistance in 2001. Attacks here have been rare even as violence surged in other parts of Afghanistan. But since last year, the Taliban have pressed ahead to try to reclaim their former northern fiefdoms -- a setback for U.S.-led forces already struggling to contain an increasingly fierce insurgency in the south.