Insurgents in Afghanistan have been carrying about 4.5 times the number of attacks per month in 2006  than they were in 2005 -- 600 vs. 130, says a new report. The attacks have killed 3,700 people so far this year.

An excerpt from the CTV.ca story:

The report said the country's rising drug trade has "significantly helped fuel" the insurgency in four unstable southern provinces.

Slow reconstruction and development is also creating hostility while hurting efforts to rein in opium production, said the report.

The insurgency "threatens to reverse some of the gains made in the recent past, with development activities being especially hard hit in several areas, resulting in partial or total withdrawal of international agencies in a number of the worst-affected provinces,'' it said.

The Joint Co-ordination and Monitoring Board compiled the report. It consist of Afghan, international and UN representatives.