Taliban's bomb expertise grows as regard for civilians cast aside

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
A new generation of Afghan insurgents is casting aside old Taliban doctrine that called for minimizing civilian casualties, US military officials say, while the Islamist militia itself is promising to inflict more deaths in its suicide bombings aimed at NATO forces. Afghan authorities also report militants are making ball-bearing packed bombs using a powerful C-4 explosive not previously seen in the country - another sign that the Taliban is refining its deadly tactics by drawing on the experience of jihadists elsewhere, including Iraq. "It's not like Baghdad, but the terrorists are learning lessons from each other," said Abdul Manan Farahi, the counterterrorism chief for the Interior Ministry. He did not identify the origin of the new explosive.