Afghanistan is in "crisis" and risks becoming a divided state, as Taliban insurgents now control vast areas of unchallenged territory, a thinktank warned Wednesday. The Senlis Council called for the Nato-led force in the country to be doubled in size to 80,000, after a study found that 54 percent of Afghan territory has a permanent Taliban presence.
"The security situation has reached crisis proportions," said Norine MacDonald of the thinktank, which has offices in London, Paris, Brussels and Kabul. "The insurgency now controls vast swaths of unchallenged territory including rural areas, border areas, some district centres, and important road arteries," she added.
The Taliban, whose regime was toppled in 2001 by a US-led offensive, have stepped up their attacks recently. There have been more than 130 suicide blasts in Afghanistan this year, most of them blamed on the Taliban movement.
The British defence ministry announced the death of another soldier in the southern Helmand province Wednesday, bringing to 84 the number of British troops killed in Afghanistan since the US-led invasion of the country. The Senlis Council said the Taliban "are the de facto governing authority in significant portions of territory in the south."
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