Insurgent attacks have continued across much of Afghanistan, despite the onset of winter, which is normally associated with a lower tempo in the conflict. In particular, there have been several significant attacks against fixed ISAF positions at bases and airports by large groups of insurgents. On October 30th 80 insurgents were killed during an attack on a NATO base in Paktia province. The district centre of Khogyani, in Ghazni province, was overrun on October 31st amid increasing violence in the province, and the Taliban claimed that 14 of their members attacked Jalalabad airport on November 13th, leading to at least six deaths among the attackers.

Afghan government officials and local elders who do not support the insurgency in the south of the country are being targeted regularly by a Taliban assassination campaign. On September 26th the deputy governor of Ghazni province, Mohammad Kazim Allahyar, was killed, reportedly by the Taliban. On October 20th the governor of Kunduz province, Mohammad Omar, was killed along with 20 civilians at a mosque in neighbouring Takhar province. In Kandahar, the Taliban have stepped up their assassination campaign, killing hundreds of people in the past few months.

There have also been a number of kidnappings of foreigners working for private development companies, such as Development Alternatives Inc (DAI), as well as non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Linda Norgrove, who worked for DAI, was kidnapped in Kunar province in late September 2010 but was killed by her would-be liberators during a Special Forces raid on October 8th. A Dutch national was kidnapped in Kunduz province on October 25th, but the NGO worker was later freed.

Eastern Afghanistan has also been subject to some significant attacks; a police training centre, an airstrip in Shindand and the UN's offices in Herat were all attacked in late October. On October 16th, a week before the attack on the UN compound, the Italian defence minister, Ignazio La Russa, said that the Herat zone could already be ready for handover. This echoed comments made by French, German and British military officials that parts of their areas of responsibility could be transitioned in spite of ongoing violence.

Civilian casualties continue to mount across the country; in the six months to October, 1,119 civilians were killed and a further 2,473 injured according to figures from the Ministry of Interior. About 100 Afghan police are killed every month; over the same six-month period, 595 police officers were killed and 1,345 injured. In October alone 229 civilians were killed, and 313 wounded. During the same six-month period 587 Taliban militants were killed and 445 arrested.