Taliban Reach Zenith?

• Position: Taliban regime may have reached its height of power in Afghanistan - Brief Article

The Taliban--the Islamic extremists who control an estimated 85 percent of Afghanistan--may "have reached their high-water mark," according to Kari E Inderfurth, assistant secretary of state for South Asian affairs. "We believe the Taliban now have little prospect of ... gaining control over the 15 percent of the country held by the opposition," Inderfurth told a Senate hearing.

Two major Taliban offensives this summer "ended quickly with heavy Taliban casualties and no changes in the frontlines," he said. Other indicators of erosion in Taliban authority in recent months include an escape from prison by three senior Taliban opponents, an assassination of a Taliban-appointed provincial governor, sabotage at Kabul airport...