June 19, 2008, Afghan and NATO forces killed or wounded several hundred Taliban who had come together south of Kandahar, and tried to take over seven villages. As usual, an examination of the dead, and interrogation of prisoners, showed that most of the gunmen were from Pakistan, recruited from Pushtun tribes, and religious schools for boys. Not exactly a great source of skilled warriors. Give them an AK-47, a few days training, a pep talk by a preacher and send them across the border. If they don't come back, and many don't, declare them martyrs for the cause.

In the south, another Taliban suicide bomber failed. The explosion, near a NATO convoy (apparently the intended target) killed ten civilians, and wounded many more. This makes the Taliban, and their al Qaeda allies, even less popular. The Taliban made did little for their public image by planting landmines around villages they briefly occupied south of Kandahar. The millions of mines the Russians left behind in the 1980s are still being cleared, and continue to kill and wound people.