2006年VOA标准英语-Fugitive Taleban Leader Vows New Wave of V

（单词翻译）

By Benjamin Sand
Kabul
16 March 2006

Fugitive¹ Taleban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar has vowed² stepped up violence against U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan. Coalition³ forces say they are prepared.

The rarely photographed Mullah Mohammed Omar is reportedly seen in this undated photo  
  
The latest threat came Thursday, apparently⁴ from former Taleban leader Mullah Omar. In a statement given to news agencies, Omar claimed that hundreds of young Afghans were signing up to become suicide bombers⁵.

The statement says that a new wave of violence would be unleashed⁶ at the beginning of summer, and would be directed at U.S.-led forces providing security in Afghanistan's fledgling democracy.

U.S. commanders say there is usually a spike⁷ in militant⁸ attacks during the warmer weather, as snow melts and mountain passes reopen.

Coalition spokesman Colonel James Yonts says counter-insurgency⁹ operations will continue as planned.

"We expect these attacks, but we will not be deterred," he said. "We will stand strong, and we are committed in Afghanistan, with the Afghan government and the Afghan people."

The Afghan government is also downplaying the significance of the Taleban threat.

"The fact is that, at the end of each season, they say the same thing, that they increase their attacks on Afghan security forces," said Interior Ministry¹⁰ spokesman, Yousuf Stanizai.

The Taleban insurgency has taken more than 1,500 lives in the past year. That is the highest death toll¹¹ since coalition forces ousted¹² the hard-line Islamic Taleban regime in 2001 for harboring al-Qaida terrorist leader Osama bin¹³ Laden¹⁴.

Suicide bombings have intensified¹⁵, with at least 12 this year alone.

The Interior Ministry's Yousuf Stanizai says this tactic¹⁶ is a sign of weakness, and that Taleban militants¹⁷ no longer have the stomach for a head-on fight.

"As I say before, they don't have the power to fight the international coalition, or Afghan security forces," he said.

NATO security forces are being reinforced and expanded throughout the volatile¹⁸ southern provinces where Taleban insurgents¹⁹ are most active.

Some 18,000 U.S. troops are also leading independent missions specifically targeting al-Qaida and Taleban militants.