Ramadan begins in Afghanistan.
As muslims across Afghanistan mark the fasting month of Ramadan, the question was whether it would signal a break for the insurgency.
Not so far says Brigadier General Carsten Jacobson in Kabul , who was made available to Reuters by the Pentagon.
Brigadier General Carsten Jacobson said, "We are just observing the situation whether Ramadan has any impact on the behavior of the insurgency. We are just prepared for any activities that the insurgency might take over the coming weeks, but at the moment there are any indicators of any change of pattern."
On the second day of Ramadan, three suicide bombers attack a guesthouse used by foreigners in the northern province of Kunduz.
The once peaceful north of the country has seen a series of high profile attacks and assassinations over the last year, including the killing of a top police commander in May.
One attacker detonated a car bomb at the gates of the guesthouse. The other two stormed the building where they fought Afghan forces for a couple of hours before detonating their explosives,
More violence erupts in Kunduz Thursday.
A car bomb kills an intelligence official wounds three children.
Violence has intensified in the north as insurgents seek to demonstrate their reach beyond their traditional southern heartland around Kandahar city.
Brigadier General Carsten Jacobson said, "These are attacks like they happen all over Afghanistan. This is a country at war and we have to be prepared that the insurgents are striking wherever they have a chance."
Violence is at its worst in Afghanistan since US-backed Afghan forces toppled the Taliban government in late 2001, with high levels of foreign troop deaths, and record civilian casualties.