U.S. ponders more troops to "sustain Afghan success"
Source: Reuters
(Adds comment from Gates, NATO comment on French proposal, anger in Pakistan over raid) By Robert Birsel KABUL, Jan 17 (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Wednesday he would consider more troops for Afghanistan where U.S. commanders say the Taliban insurgency, controlled from Pakistani sanctuaries, is expected to intensify. Gates, on his first trip to Afghanistan since taking office last month, spoke bluntly about the problem of Taliban infiltration from Pakistan following the bloodiest year of fighting since U.S.-led forces overthrew the Taliban in 2001. International concern has grown about the prospects for a country that was seen as a success in the war on terrorism. But a French proposal to create a "contact group" to coordinate Afghan operations had won little backing from NATO allies, the alliance's secretary-general said. Afghanistan's NATO force also said it has seized a prominent Taliban commander in a raid in the southern province of Helmand. Gates, speaking to reporters in Afghanistan shortly before his departure, said the commander of Afghanistan's NATO force, General David Richards, and others had made a case for more troops and he would consider that. "If the people who are leading the struggle out here believe that there is a need for some additional help to sustain the success that we've had, I'm going to be very sympathetic to that kind of a request," he said. There are more than 40,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, the most since 2001. About 23,000 of them American. U.S. Marine General Peter Pace, chairman of the U.S. military's joint chiefs of staff, said America would also discuss troop levels in Afghanistan with other NATO countries. U.S. commanders said attacks from Pakistan into Afghanistan had surged, several-fold in some areas last year. A fresh Taliban offensive is expected in the spring after a winter fall-off in attacks. PAKISTANI SANCTUARIES Gates' visit focused attention on insurgent infiltration from Pakistan, which has also been battling militants in its lawless border lands. U.S. military officials in Kabul told reporters travelling with Gates that command and control of the Afghan insurgency came from the Pakistani side of the border. Gates said Pakistan was "an extraordinarily strong ally" in the war on terrorism but militancy on the Pakistani side of the border would have to be dealt with. Pakistan was the main backer of the Taliban during the 1990s but officially stopped help after the Sept. 11 attacks, when it joined the U.S.-led war on terrorism. While Pakistan has arrested or killed hundreds of al Qaeda members, Kabul and some of its allies say it has failed to take action against Taliban leaders, their networks and sanctuaries. The Pakistani army attacked a militant camp near the Afghan border on Tuesday, killing up to 20 people. But the timing of the attack raised speculation Pakistan was seeking to deflect U.S. criticism it was not doing enough to stop the Taliban. It also enraged pro-Taliban Pakistani tribesman and appeared to put in jeopardy peace deals in the Waziristan border region aimed at quelling attacks on Pakistani security forces and incursions into Afghanistan. "You should get ready. We can't trust the government anymore. Fighting can erupt any time," one militant leader, Qari Hussein, told followers in a Waziristan town, a witness said. NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer repeated calls on Pakistan to do more to stop the insurgents, suggesting NATO allies could help Pakistan boost border surveillance. Scheffer also said an idea from French President Jacques Chirac to create a new body including Afghanistan's neighbours, troop contributing countries and other international organisations, to coordinate operations had won little support. NATO said a prominent Taliban commander was arrested in a Tuesday night raid in the southern province of Helmand. The force declined to identify him but said he was the first known Taliban leader arrested by NATO and Afghan forces. NATO also said help from Pakistan led to the killing of a top Taliban commander in a U.S. strike in Afghanistan last month. (Additional reporting by Andrew Gray, Simon Cameron-Moore in Islamabad, Mark John in Brussels)
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