Over 100 Dead in Afghanistan

Otherwise, things are going swell.

More than 100 people were killed Thursday in Afghanistan as Islamic militants battled Afghan, U.S. and Canadian forces and exploded two suicide car bombs Thursday, some of the deadliest violence since the fall of the Taliban.

The dead included dozens of insurgents, at least 15 Afghan police, a U.S. civilian training Afghan forces and Canada's first female killed in combat.

The fighting was concentrated in the southern provinces of Helmand and Kandahar and raised new concerns for the future of Afghanistan's fragile democracy, marking an escalation in a region where the U.S.-led coalition is to cede control of security operations to NATO by July.

Yeah, fat chance.

President Hamid Karzai, visiting the capital of eastern Konar province, angrily denounced the violence as the work of religious extremists and intelligence services in neighboring Pakistan, saying they sent young men across the border to stage attacks in the name of holy war.

"In Pakistan they train people to go to Afghanistan, conduct jihad, burn schools and clinics," he told provincial elders. "What kind of Islam is this?"

There goes that tactless twit Karzai taking another cheap swipe at Pakistan.

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Tasnim Aslam, called the allegations "baseless."

Karzai did not blame Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, calling him a "dear brother," the Washington Post reported. But he directly taunted Mohammad Omar, the fugitive Afghan Taliban leader, challenging him to "show yourself" and "come fight with me" instead of hiding.

Look who's talking. Karzai is the one hiding behind American troops. He's asked the US to stay indefinitely.

The violence started Wednesday in the small remote town of Musa Qala in Helmand, when an estimated 300 to 400 militants with assault rifles and machine guns attacked police and government headquarters.

The attack sparked eight hours of clashes with Afghan security forces, the fiercest in Helmand since U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban in 2001 for hosting al-Qaida The bodies of about 40 Taliban militants were recovered, and 13 police were killed and six hurt in the fight.

British soldiers helped evacuate casualties but did not provide military backup, in part so Afghan forces could prove themselves, a British military spokesman said.

Oh, they proved themsleves, alright. They proved that they can die a bloody death in a civil war brought on by the continued misguided occupation of Afghanistan by Bush and Blair.