Afghanistan ? Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, the outgoing U.S. commander in Afghanistan, predicted more fighting this spring and summer and said Taliban militants would try to overrun towns to “unhinge the Afghan people’s morale.”

Eikenberry, who will probably leave Afghanistan in late January, said suicide bombings will get worse, as will attacks on security posts and towns with government connections.

When asked if that was in comparison to 2006, he said, “We should not be surprised by levels of fighting in parts of southern Afghanistan that rivaled what we saw last year.”

Violence rose sharply in Afghanistan in 2006, killing an estimated 4,000 people, the deadliest year since the U.S.-led coalition swept the Taliban from power in 2001.

Militants launched a record 117 suicide attacks this year, about a six-fold increase over 2005, killing 206 Afghan civilians, 54 Afghan security personnel and 18 soldiers from NATO’s International Security Assistance Force, said spokesman Maj. Dominic Whyte.