Afghanistan will send more than 1,000 policemen to provide additional security in the southern city of Kandahar, after coordinated attacks since the weekend have killed 50 people in the volatile region.
Kandahar Provincial Governor Tooryalai Wesa told reporters Tuesday that the Interior Ministry had agreed to his request for more security to protect the city in the run-up to the expected offensive in the province, which is the spiritual birthplace of the Taliban.
As part of a new counter-insurgency strategy, a joint Afghan-NATO military onslaught is scheduled for later this year.
Interior Minister Mohammad Hanif Atmar confirmed the government's decision to deploy an additional force of 1,200 policemen during a visit to Kandahar Monday to offer condolences to the families of those killed in bomb attacks.
Forty people were killed in multiple-location bomb attacks by the Taliban militants in Kandahar Saturday.
Two days later, three policemen and six non-Afghans were killed in separate blasts in the same province.
The dreaded terrorist group said the attacks were in response to a planned major offensive by international forces against militants in the region.
Kandahar was the Islamist militia's base during their five-year rule of the country, which ended with the U.S.-led invasion in 2001.
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June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.