Tahun lalu, pertempuran paling berdarah sejak Taliban digulingkan pada 2001, terutama terjadi di daerah pemberontakan di pusat provinsi Helmand, dan provinsi tetangganya, Kandahar.
Last year saw the bloodiest fighting since the Taliban were ousted in 2001, mainly in the rebels' southern heartland of Helmand and neighbouring Kandahar province.