Kandahar's Grim Prospects

During the night of April 19, Azizullah Yarmal, deputy mayor of Kandahar, the second city of Afghanistan, was assassinated while praying in a mosque. The murder has caused widespread shock. Mr. Yarmal was known to be an honest and dedicated public official in an administration noted for corruption and incompetence. A few hours earlier, the Taliban had claimed responsibility for an attack in which a booby-trapped donkey cart was exploded by remote control in an attempt on the life of a former governor of Spin Boldak district. The bomb in fact killed three of his nephews and wounded four others. On March 13, suicide bombers killed 35 people. The repeated attacks form part of a Taliban campaign to spread fear among the half-million population of Kandahar and to show the occupying forces what their proposed attack on the city will involve. The U.S.-led offensive, planned for June, will be the biggest operation since the western invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and could involve 30,000 troops. Its stated aim is to drive the Taliban to the negotiating table.