Briefing | Afghanistan's war

A double spring offensive

After a dreadful year in Afghanistan, a newly confident NATO is preparing itself to take on the Taliban. Success will be difficult, but not impossible

|kabul, kajaki and kandahar

THE Kajaki dam, with its turquoise lake lost in the rocky wilderness of southern Afghanistan, is an unusually scenic setting for battle. On the heights above, British marines at the sharp end of NATO's war against the Taliban routinely come under fire from guns and rockets. But over the past two months the Taliban have been pushed back by NATO's firepower and their continued pot-shots are, for the moment, little more than harassment.

This article appeared in the Briefing section of the print edition under the headline “A double spring offensive”

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