Update for Saturday, October 31, 2015

NY Times reports an increasingly desperate situation for government forces in Helmand and Uruzgan. "The details of the battles sweeping up to important district centers were as grim as the death toll. In telephone interviews, Afghan soldiers and their officers described feeling abandoned by their government, often left with only scant supplies of ammunition and fuel, their situation increasingly desperate in the face of Taliban fighters who seem to have grown in number." The soldiers report a lack of heavy weapons, a lack of air support, and a lack of medevac resources. They report watching their comrades bleed to death because they cannot be evacuated. Analysts say that despite their superior numbers, the government forces are hampered by corruption which often deprives units of supplies and ammunition. Helmand province is the heart of the opium growing region and therefore represents a substantial economic prize for the insurgents.

A rocket strikes a mosque in Kandahar province, killing six. Daesh (IS) militants are blamed. The intended target was apparently a security post.

Air strike in Ghazni kills 12, said to be insurgents. (As we know, there is no effort to verify the identity of people killed in these attacks. Any "military aged male" is assumed to be a legitimate target.)

Taliban block roads to 6 districts in Paktia, leaving the residents cut off.

The Netherlands prepares to prosecute Sadeq Alamyar, accused of an atrocity in Karala, Kunar province in 1979 in which 1,000 men and boys were murdered. This is a reminder of how long the Afghan people have suffered from conflict.