Whilst Britain's NATO partners, Germany and the Netherlands, have ruled out committing troops to the south of Afghanistan, the Taliban appears to have lost much of its local support. A British official was quoted by Reuters:
"So far the Taliban have been drawing very heavily on the locals in the
south ... This is beginning to change," the senior foreign ministry
official said.
"More by way of foreign fighters ... jihadists,
are beginning to appear," said the official, who was authorised to
speak to reporters on condition he not be identified.
A senior
defence ministry official, at the same briefing, played down the
presence of foreign fighters, saying there were limited signs of
foreign involvement.
Neither official would estimate how many foreign fighters were in Afghanistan.
The heavy attrition rate that the Pushtun Taliban have suffered leads to a drop in local support or recruitment. This is the first sign that the Taliban are more reliant upon foreign jihadists, based in Pakistan, and transparently revealing the bases held in the Tribal Areas.