Most Afghan citizens believe their country is safer than it was a year ago, according to an April 28 Defense Department report to Congress. Heightened anti-Taliban operations by U.S. and coalition troops and Afghan security forces account for the concurrent 87-percent increase in violence in Afghanistan during the same period of time, the Report on Progress Toward Security and Stability in Afghanistan stated. DoD officials temper the report’s optimism, however. “The downward trend in stability seems to have stemmed, along with Taliban momentum,” said a senior Pentagon official on background. “But it’s far too soon to say the corner has been turned.”