An IED hit a British convoy in Kabul this morning. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, claiming it was revenge for British air strikes on Kunduz, where coalition forces are battling to push out the Taliban.

The attack in the middle of the Afghan capital underscores the extent to which over a decade of war has failed to bring security to Afghanistan.

U.S. air strikes accidentally killed 22 doctors and patients in a Medecins Sans Frontiere (Doctors Without Borders) hospital last week, drawing criticism of U.S. military precautions to avoid civilian casualties.

Newly released UN statistics show the Afghan Taliban is now operating in more of Afghanistan than at any time since 2001.

This data was compiled even before the fall of Kunduz, the first provincial capital to be under Taliban control since the Taliban were defeated.

In September UN security officials rated the threat level as "high" or "extreme" in roughly half of Afghanistan’s administrative districts. Many others that are ranked have a “substantial” threat level.

In many districts, government loyalists only control government compounds and buildings in the center, with Taliban insurgents holding much of the countryside.

One police chief, who has been pinned down for months with 400 police officers told the New York Times, “We do not have any way to escape. If we get any means of escaping, I will not stay for a second in the district. The government is failing in their governing, and it’s better to let the Taliban rule.”

President Ashraf Ghani has headed a national unity government for the past year, but despite heavy fighting, he has failed to bring the country under control. He has also struggled to contain Afghanistan’s rampant corruption (it is rated as one of the most corrupt countries in the world), which has undermined trust in the government and the police services. In September, Ghani described the corruption as a “cancerous lesion.”

Since 2001. the U.S. government has spent approximately $715.8 billion on the war in Afghanistan.

Despite the colossal cost in lives and dollars, the conflict looks to be far from over.