70% Of Afghanistan Outside Government Control

The top U.S. intelligence official says the Afghan government under President Hamid Karzai controls just 30% of the country.

Michael McConnell, the director of national intelligence, told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday that the resurgent Taliban controls 10% to 11% of the country, while Karzai's government controls 30% to 31%.

So more than six years after the U.S. invasion to oust the Taliban and establish a stable central government, the majority of Afghanistan's population remains under local tribal control.

[Wall Street Journal]