Five years after 9/11 brought back Afghanistan to international attention and led to the ouster of the Taliban regime, that initial success remains the only best memory.

India, which felt vindicated as US-led Coalition Forces blasted past every Taliban bastion then, is deeply concerned today. Because the Taliban are on the revival path and again, the warnings are being overlooked. Couple with that the recent agreement between the Pakistan government and tribes in Waziristan and this, sources say, is turning into a recipe for disaster.

India is all set to raise the issue in the United Nations and with world powers.

Since last year, there have been 52 suicide attacks, 36 incidents of kidnapping, 264 mine and 122 rocket attacks in Afghanistan. In the last eight months, nearly 2,000 people have been killed, including Taliban forces.

While this is alarming, what has truly raised concern levels in New Delhi over the past couple of months is the organised manner in which Taliban are now orchestrating attacks. There are no more short raids, but groups numbering 70-100 (on some occasions 150) launching conventional offensive operations against coalition forces.

For India, this is almost a replay of what happened in the early 1990s when the Taliban sought to capture territory, which it did successfully gaining control over most of Afghanistan. While this time they are up against formidable Western forces, the fact is that these troops fight a holding battle from their locations and much is relied on air raids to silence any attack.

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