A daring attack on NATO major base in Jalalabad, capital city of eastern province Nangarhar, left 14 dead and eighteen were wounded on Sunday, Dec. 02. Militants wearing suicide vests stormed the base from three points and encountered brave Afghan and NATO forces, thus, failed to penetrate.

 There were conflicting reports about the number of casualties but it is said that nine militants, 2 civilians and three Afghan soldiers were killed. As usual, Taliban militants claimed the responsibility for the bombings and ensued firings. Zabehullah Mojahid has said there were two suicide car bombs and a suicide bomber with an explosive which in total left 20 people dead.

However, the explosions made by militants were hugely strong that caused the shatter glasses of windows some kilometers away and the number of suicide bombers involved were many, yet the attack was assessed as failure because they could not penetrate into the base.

Analysts say that these massive attacks are generally aimed to show that Taliban militants are still strong enough to carry on major storms and undermine the success of foreign security forces scheduled to draw till 2014. Anyhow what is important is that Afghan security forces should be ready to deal with militants independently.

It is clear that Sunday's attack was mostly foiled by hovering NATO helicopters. Without the well-equipped air force, the causality might have increased tremendously. So, the top priority of United States and other involved countries should be improving the capacity Afghan security forces to stand against insurgents after their withdrawal.

 However, visible success of Afghan soldiers in the battlefield where they carried out operations jointly or independently are promising. The security situation in places where the security responsibilities are handed over is also sign of such capability. Meanwhile, the available reports indicate the spiral increase of casualties of ANA.  

Formal and informal reports show high level of casualties among Afghan National Army soldiers over the recent years. It is said that most of the casualties were caused by the increasing roadside bomb explosions, a device widely used by the Taliban. Roadside bomb explosions are the most dangerous tactics of militants, which have created serious challenges ahead of both foreign and Afghan forces alike.

However, serious efforts are made to tackle down the setback by equipping armies with bomb-tracking devices, but, probably, so far, they could not yield the intended results. Hope as the deadline for foreign military withdrawal approaches, Afghan security forces will be equipped with updated technologies in order to cope with security challenges.