NATO began a new offensive in western Afghanistan yesterday as the Defence Secretary admitted that Western forces had seriously underestimated the Taleban’s strength.

“The Taleban’s tenacity in the face of massive losses has been a surprise, absorbing more of our effort than predicted and consequently slowing progress on reconstruction,” Des Browne is expected to say in a speech today. “We do have to accept that it’s been even harder than we expected.”

His comments come as three suicide bombings cast a bleak light on Nato’s claims to have defeated Taleban fighters in the south.

Four Canadian soldiers were killed and at least ten injured when a suicide bomber on a bicycle blew himself up at Dagarona, a village in the Panjwayi district of Kandahar province in the south. Two children were wounded in the attack, which occurred while the troops were handing out gifts.

In Herat, in the west of the country, 11 Afghans died and 18 were wounded when a man on a motorcycle detonated explosives outside the city’s main mosque.

General Abdul Wahab Walizada, the local Afghan army commander, said that the bomber had been targeting a high-ranking police official. In the capital, Kabul, a car bomb killed three Afghan policemen.

The attacks came a day after the end of Operation Medusa, which left 20 Nato troops dead.

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