Prodi, D’Alema and Parisi are right when they say they are ‘worried’ for the safety of Italian troops dispatched in the western province of Herat. The violent air and land offensive unleashed at the end of the week by American operation ‘Enduring Freedom’ in the sector commanded by Italy – an initiative taken without even warning ISAF – has made the situation in the region uncontrollable. Italian military working there now find themselves in the middle of a war zone, along with everything that this entails – yesterday morning’s attack against the Italian convoy in Herat was a clear sign. Italian troops are an ideal target for the attacks in reprisal from Taliban forces, which, thanks to US action, can also count on popular sympathy in Herat which up until a few days ago was unthinkable.

Hatred towards foreign troops increases. The US-led offensive released on Friday in the Shindand district, which has seen strategic B-1 bombers shell out tens of Gbu-31 bombs weighing a ton, has actually killed tens of civilians, provoking anger in the local people. Mohammad Homayoun Azizi, chief of Herat's provincial council, told the press that two council members who visited the area reported that 51 civilians were killed, including 18 women and children who were buried in three different locations in the valley of Zerkoh. According to Azizi, twelve of the victims all belong to the family of Jamal Mirzai. The news has enraged people not only in Herat, but also in the east of the country in Jalalabad, where there were civilian casualties from US raids and where young university students have now protested for four days continuously against the presence of US troops, with demonstrations in the square and street blockades. Protests became larger each day: today, after the news of at least 51 civilians killed in Herat, more than a thousand students took to the streets burning American flags and puppets of Bush and shouting “Die Bush, die Karzai”.

“Americans must leave Afghanistan because they do not respect us”, said one young man. “Why don’t Bush and Karzai respond to the innocent people killed by American soldiers?” asked one of his friends. “They have invaded our country, making themselves the masters and us the servants”, said another student.

Tens of deaths in the battle of Sangin. Meanwhile in southern Afghanistan, operation Achilles continues, the NATO offensive in the Helmand province. At the front line of fighting in the last few days was the Valley of Sangin, 70 km north of Lashkargah. On Monday, hundreds of British and Danish air troops, together with some Afghan troops, killed at least 75 “alleged militants” during a battle lasting from dawn until dusk, fought amid the opium fields and the mud huts that are dotted throughout the valley. The offensive was aimed at eliminating Taliban forces which from the beginning of April were spread through the countryside after having left – on request of the local tribe leaders – the region’s capital Sansin, which was reduced to rubble by NATO air bombs. Hundreds of families who have fled from the war in recent weeks are now returning home. Many however found only ruins guarded by NATO soldiers. Many return to bury their relatives. British Major Dominic Biddick told the press: “numerous people who died on Monday were people from round here and their deaths risk stirring hostility in local people towards our troops”. And, one could add, sympathy towards Taliban guerrillas.