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Five French troops were killed in an Eastern Province of Afghanistan early this morning. A suicide bomb attack was found to be responsible. The attack comes on the same day as a funeral for Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s half brother Ahmed Wali Karzai, who was assassinated early this week, setting of speculation about motives and the power vacuum he has left behind. While the Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, the suspected assassin is a man named Sardar Mohammed, a close ally and confidante of the victim. Ahmed Wali Karzai was so powerful in Kandahar, the Southern stronghold of the Taliban, that he was considered its defacto governor. Heavily involved in the drug trade, reportedly on the CIA payroll, and strongly implicated in voter fraud, the President’s brother was also a symbol of the power of the central government in Kabul, the Taliban’s main opposition. His assassination underscores the ever-growing power of the Taliban. High level officials from other provinces narrowly escaped a roadside bomb attack today on their way to the funeral. Outgoing General David Petraeus told the New York Times over the weekend that “insurgent attacks were down in May and June” compared to 2010 and that July was also on track to show progress for the US-NATO war. However, a spokeswoman of the International Security Assistance Forces in Afghanistan told Wired.com that insurgent attacks were only down by 2%, this after an increase over the past year of tens of thousands of troops, and a significant increase in ground and air attacks by U.S.-NATO forces. The newly confirmed U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, toured Afghanistan over the weekend, to oversee the handover of 7 NATO-occupied regions to Afghan forces scheduled to begin this month. However, the death of Ahmed Wali Karzai represents the on-going challenges facing the war as we approach its 10th anniversary this October.

GUEST: Gareth Porter, investigative journalist and historian specializing in U.S. national security policy