August 17, 2006: NATO commanders complain that the Taliban are operating "like Hizbollah in Lebanon, by hiding among civilians." This tactic is, in fact, quite ancient, and has become much more common, and effective, since the invention of smokeless powder for rifles over a century ago. During the 1990s, "hostile gunmen hiding among civilians", was repeatedly a big story in the Balkans and Somalia. How soon we forget. Well, some of us, anyway.
August 16, 2006: Tips from civilians have led to the identification of several al Qaeda "technical advisors", who have been helping with the construction of roadside bombs, and car bombs for used for suicide attacks. This has led to a series of raids by NATO, American and Afghan forces, on some of the workshops where these bombs are made.
August 15, 2006: For the first half of August, the 21,000 man NATO force lost ten troops killed and several dozen wounded. Over a hundred Taliban have been killed by NATO troops, with dozens more arrested and an unknown number who escaped wounded. NATO troops have identified (among dead or prisoners), over ten al Qaeda members. Either documents or interrogations identify these foreign , for the most part, terrorists.