While NATO soldiers ramble over hill and dale, seeking to engage the Taliban, the insurgents are targeting soft targets like schools in an attempt to destabilize the country.

A Canadian, Mike Frastacky of Vancouver, has been one victim of this tactic. This BBC story looks at the bigger picture.

An excerpt:

In Helmand province in the last eight months almost half the schools have either been burned down, or the teachers have been intimidated into closing.

They pay people to burn schools and organise roadside bombs Rahman Ibrahim, Former Paktia police chief

They are echoes of a Taleban government which was removed from power almost five years ago, but today's motives are as much about creating instability as they are about religious extremism.

Schools are soft targets, the night letters instil fear into the people, and the intention is to gradually erode the power of the democratically-elected government.

Beyond the heavy fighting in Helmand, the roadside and suicide car bombs in Kandahar and across Afghanistan which are killing coalition soldiers, Taleban militia and civilians, is a campaign to bring chaos and fear to the country.

Schools are easy targets for those who oppose education

Just how co-ordinated this campaign might be is difficult to say, but every day the list of dead and injured is increasing.

Some days there are more attacks across Afghanistan than there are in Iraq.

"They are killing the leaders of the province," said Rahman Ibrahim, the former police chief of south-eastern Paktia province.

"They tried to assassinate the governor, the chief of police, the head of intelligence, the army chief. They tried to kill government employees.

"They pay people to burn schools and organise roadside bombs, they pay to bring unrest to the region," he said.

Government officials know there is often a price on their heads - money is being paid for carrying out attacks.

Even Taleban commanders are paying more for fighters than the Afghan security agencies are offering.