In the run-up to the election a series of co-ordinated attacks on government facilities in Afghan cities highlighted the ability of the Taliban to strike at will in an organised manner.

And the recent attack on UN staff in a Kabul guesthouse showed the Taliban’s determination to go after high-profile targets.

The Taliban have even begun to infiltrate previously peaceful parts of the country.

The Nato commander in Afghanistan, Gen Stanley McChrystal, has warned the mission to tackle the Taliban could end in failure – and identified a window of six to 12 months in which to act.

President Barack Obama is currently considering his request for about 40,000 extra US troops – but President Obama has always stressed he needs a credible partner in government in order to honour more troop and resource commitments to Afghanistan.

Some analysts say the key to ensuring Afghanistan’s long term security is training Afghanistan’s security forces.

President Karzai and the US government have long recognised that Afghan security forces need to be better trained. It is one of the key planks of Gen McChrystal’s new Afghan strategy – and it is a colossal task .

Another strategy has been to reach out to the “moderate Taliban”. In his first speech after victory, President Karzai called on “Taliban brothers” who have been fighting an insurgency against him to “embrace their land”.

The idea that moderate elements of the Taliban could be part of a reconciliation process has also been considered by the US.

But as Taliban wages far outstrip what the average Afghan earns, it is unclear how the government can win them over.

Meanwhile, civilians continue to bear the brunt of the Afghan conflict. The number of civilians killed in the conflict in Afghanistan in the first six months of 2009 has risen 24% compared with the same period last year, the UN says.