Noref Report 12 - the series Afghanistan-Pakistan updates, May no 2
9 August 2009
General David McKiernan has been replaced by Lieutenant General Stanley McChrystal, an expert in counterinsurgency, as commander of American and NATO forces in Afghanistan. UN Special Representative Kay Eide called on the Taliban to compete at the polls in the Afghan presidential elections while the Taliban responded by attacking government buildings in the Afghan province of Khost and a US base. President Karzai’s relations with Afghan warlords bolster his re-election bid. In Pakistan, military operations to rout the Taliban have compounded the internal refugee crisis, with numbers swelling to 2.2 million, and the situation is described as one of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Al Qaeda are reported to be establishing links with jihadi groups in Pakistan, rather than with the Taliban.
