The Taliban defiantly vowed to fight back against the US troop surge, with a spokesman saying it will “provoke stronger resistance” from the group. “Obama will witness lots of coffins heading to America from Afghanistan,” a spokesman tells the BBC. “Their hope to control Afghanistan by military means will not become reality.” Obama plans to send an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan, saying that failure would mean a Taliban takeover of the country. (More Afghanistan stories.)