Serious progress in eastern Afstan? (but Pakistan?)

That's what a senior American ISAF officer says has happened:

U.S. and NATO forces are close to achieving "irreversible momentum" in their battle with insurgents in eastern Afghanistan, a senior commander said on Wednesday.

The Taliban and other insurgent groups have been strongest in eastern and southern Afghanistan but U.S. Army Major General Michael Tucker said security had improved this year in the east, where U.S. forces lead NATO troops.

He said about 80 percent of insurgent activity now took place in southern Afghanistan [emphasis added], where the United States plans to deploy thousands of troops in the coming months to reinforce British, Canadian, Dutch and other NATO soldiers.

"We're approaching what you could actually, cautiously term irreversible momentum in the east," Tucker told reporters at the Pentagon by videolink from Afghanistan.

Tucker, deputy chief of staff for operations for NATO and U.S. forces, said the improvement was partly due to an influx of some 4,000 U.S. troops to the area earlier this year [most of them are in Wardak and Logar provinces, in the far western part of RC East, just west and south of Kabul].

A pilot project creating a local community protection force has also begun in the east and economic development efforts are well established there, Tucker said.

"We have a combination of the right amount of forces... now to cover the area," he said.

Efforts by Pakistan to tackle militants on the other side of the border may also have helped reduce violence, he said. [Huh? several related videos at link.]

In the south, Tucker reiterated the assessment of other senior U.S. officials that NATO and Afghan government forces were stuck in a stalemate with the insurgents [emphasis added].

"We just simply do not have enough forces to address the needs of the people down there," he said.

"The enemy, obviously, is taking advantage of that posture that we're certainly going to be addressing here very shortly."..

Map:

Latest from the other side of the border:

Pakistan bid to stop Taleban push
The Pakistan government has sent troops to tackle Taleban militants who have advanced into a region just 100km (67 miles) from the capital, Islamabad.

Officials say the forces will protect government buildings in Buner district, where insurgents have begun patrolling the streets and mounting checkpoints.

As the troops moved into the region, insurgents launched an attack on their convoy, killing at least one soldier.

The militants advanced from the Swat Valley, a region they largely control.

The BBC's Mark Dummett in Islamabad says if the government is trying to reassert control over the region, its efforts appear to be too little, too late.

The Taleban are reported to have moved several hundred men into Buner from the Swat Valley.

The government sent six platoons - up to 300 men - to deal with the insurgents.

A police official told the BBC that the troops were attacked as they were leaving the village of Totalai in the south of Buner district.

The convoy was heading for Dagar, the central town of the largely mountainous district.

Springboard

The confrontation comes just weeks after a peace deal was signed by President Asif Ali Zardari allowing the introduction of Islamic law in Swat.

The deal was designed to end a bloody 18-month conflict with the Taleban in Swat by yielding to some of their demands.

But critics say that the militants can now use Swat as a springboard to take over new areas of the country.

The BBC's Ilyas Khan says many people believe Buner could be the next battlefield for the Pakistani security forces after Swat...

Update thought: Maybe the Taliban have simply switched much of their attention from RC East to northwestern Pakistan.

Upperdate: More about the Pakistani Taliban--their links with Europe and the "Punjabi Taliban"--via Tom Ricks' blog, The Best Defence (also at the blog, several posts about abolishing the US service academies).