On Friday, 19 October a minibus carrying guests to wedding ceremony in Dawlat Abad district of northern Balk province hit a road side bomb. At least 19 people were killed and 16 injured turning the wedding ceremony into a funeral. This is Afghanistan which is being grabbed firmer by insurgency as each day passes. People are not allowed to celebrates their joys, send their children to schools and see development works in their towns, villages and cities.

Friday's incident indicates to the fact that insurgency has extended itself to peace regions in north. There have also been reports of growing activities of terrorists in central provinces as Bamiyan – known as the most peaceful provinces of Afghanistan. Routine killing of innocent civilians in the hands of Taliban if on one hand speaks of their brutality and viciousness, on the other indicates their growing potential to launched attacks in areas that have traditionally not been under their influence. Growing insurgency that causes deaths of innocent people is a ground reality that should never be neglected after expressing condemnations.

In 2011, according to a UN report, 3,021 civilians were killed. Taliban were responsible of 77 percent of these killings. Despite efforts by NATO and ANSF to protect lives of the people of Afghanistan, last year was the fifth straight year in which civilian casualties rose. In the years to come, it is feared that more innocent people will fall victims of terrorist activities as the Taliban and other insurgents groups are expected to enhance their operations amid withdrawal process of international troops from here and handover of security responsibilities of ANSF.

Along with the heart-wrenching incidents of civilian killings, the number of military deaths has also been significant. Afghan forces, according to NATO, have seen on average 243 soldiers and 292 policemen killed or wounded each month this year. At least 53 coalition troops have been in killed in insider attacks alone since January while the number of US military causalities in Afghanistan has surpassed 2,000. Nonetheless, despite all these sacrifices – both on civilian and military sides -, insurgency has only increased.

For preventing Afghanistan from falling into further chaos, the international community and the Afghan government must revise their strategies and come with working measures to defeat insurgency, before it is too late.