A wave of violence across Afghanistan Thursday. At least 18 people are killed in three attacks in the south and east, the highest one-day death toll in a month.
But NATO officials maintain the overall security situation --especially in the south -- has actually improved. Brigadier General Gunter Katz in Kabul was made available to Reuters by the Pentagon.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) BROIGIDIER GENERAL GUNTER KATZ, SAYING:
"If we look at the last three months in terms of enemy initiated attacks we can see in the Kandahar district. that means pretty much in the city we have a drop of enemy ignited attacks by 51 percent, which is very significant."
He said the south is just part of the story.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) BROIGIDIER GENERAL GUNTER KATZ, SAYING:
"Kandahar is one example where we keeping on fighting and pressuring the insurgency outside the urban areas, and we continue this fight together with our Afghan partners in remote areas that used to be safe havens. If you just look at where those enemy initiated attacks are happening they are primarily in areas where hardly anyone is living , and in population areas where the population density is rather high it is getting more and more peaceful and more and more stable."
Katz said in the past 12 weeks overall enemy attacks across the counrty have dropped by 15 percent.
