Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/afghanistan-violence-escalates-after-call-for-more-troops Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript Following a NATO request for additional troops in Afghanistan to combat Taliban insurgents, a suicide bomber rammed into a convoy near the U.S. Embassy in Kabul Friday, killing 16. Sarah Chayes, a former reporter who covered the U.S. military operation in Afghanistan discusses life in the war-torn country. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. RAY SUAREZ: Today's attack in Kabul was the bloodiest in the Afghan capital since the Taliban's ouster in 2001 and the latest in a new surge of violence.At least 16 people, including two American soldiers, died in the suicide blast, detonated about 50 yards from the U.S. Embassy. Twenty-six NATO and coalition forces have been killed this month alone, making 2006 the deadliest year yet in nearly five years of conflict. One hundred and forty-nine NATO and coalition troops have been killed so far this year. Immediately after the fall of the Taliban, the totals were about a third that number.NATO now controls military forces in 19 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces, since the handover from U.S. and other coalition forces began in late 2004. That's nearly 90 percent of the country. The heaviest resistance has been in the south, the center of the country's lucrative poppy trade.Afghanistan produces more than 90 percent of the world's opium. The U.N. reported this year's harvest is up 60 percent from last year, a new record. The tougher-than-expected resistance has admittedly caught NATO troops off guard and prompted commanders to call for reinforcements yesterday for the 20,000-strong NATO force. JAMES APPATHURAI, NATO Spokesman: The Taliban has, this year, substantially, it seems, upgraded its capability to resist, in terms of its tactics and in terms of the numbers that it's — that it is massing. They are resisting more capably than we had expected. And that is why we, as an alliance, have to make adjustments to carry out the mission. RAY SUAREZ: Taliban fighters, after taking refuge in Pakistan, are returning to Afghanistan and contributing to the rise in violence, a problem which leaders from both countries recognized earlier this week in Kabul. Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf: PERVEZ MUSHARRAF, Pakistani President: I completely agree that there are al -Qaida and Taliban in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. Certainly, they are crossing from Pakistan's side and causing bomb blasts and terrorist activity in your country. We have to fight terrorism with military force, all the force available. And we will carry on doing this, whether it is al-Qaida or Taliban or anyone.