By Sean Maguire and Jon Hemming

KABUL, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Foreign militants have imported sophisticated tactics to invigorate the Taliban insurgency but Western pessimism over the conflict in Afghanistan is unwarranted, the U.S. general leading the fight said on Thursday.

U.S. General David McKiernan told Reuters that non-native militants were posing an increasing threat in Afghanistan by bringing in techniques developed elsewhere and by providing training and help in combat.

Intelligence had picked up the presence of Chechens, Arabs, Uzbeks, Punjabis and even Europeans, he said. While some were old-time residents of neighbouring Pakistan's rebellious border regions, others were new arrivals.

"They provide a certain degree of facilitation and in some cases expertise to local insurgents," said McKiernan. American success in Iraq against al Qaeda militants may have diverted some recruits for the anti-Western cause to the Afghan conflict.

McKiernan, who commands all NATO and American forces in Afghanistan, said a distorted picture had emerged of Taliban strength which belied the success of Western and Afghan forces in weakening the austere Islamists who ruled from 1996 to 2001.

The increase in violence over the last year was due to the resurgent Taliban being forced to shift tactics to "small scale, asymmetric, more complex attacks," on soft targets like civilians, aid workers and government officials, he said.

Extra international forces were now entering new areas to unsettle local Taliban and the availability of Pakistan as a militant sanctuary also contributed to increased insecurity.

But while there was "uneven progress" around Afghanistan, "to say we are losing or the Taliban are winning is simply not true."

There has been a chorus of sombre reviews of paltry Western success in stabilising Afghanistan, and the lack of resources poured into fixing the country compared to Iraq has been made a U.S. election issue by Democratic candidate Barack Obama.

PAKISTAN HELP VITAL

Washington has been pressing Pakistan to quell Taliban militants who flow freely across the porous border. Islamabad has hesitated for fear of stoking a domestic terrorist backlash and because some Pakistani elements fear a strong Afghan neighbour.

"There is some recent reason to be cautiously optimistic of Pakistani actions starting in some of those tribal areas," said McKiernan.

General David Petraeus, credited with counter-insurgency success in Iraq, will work on winning Pakistani backing for the anti-militant fight when he takes the overall regional command next month, the Washington Post reported.

The other leg of the Petraeus strategy will be government-led reconciliation with Taliban insurgents, it said.

"Ultimately the outcome in Afghanistan will not be a military outcome, it will be a political outcome," said McKiernan. "That outcome will also be tied to the tribal areas of Pakistan."

Inside Afghanistan progress can only be made by fostering economic development, strengthening the Afghan army and police and by involving local figures of authority, such as tribal leaders, in community efforts to resist Taliban intimidation.

Some experts suggest rearming tribal militias, as happened in Iraq, but other say this is unworkable in Afghanistan.

Already 60 percent of joint military operations were now Afghan-planned and led, McKiernan added. An increase in the size of the army to 134,000 from 75-80,000 is underway.

The notoriously corrupt local police will be harder to make effective, he acknowledged, undermining efforts to persuade the populace that the government rather than the Taliban was its best protection.

"They are afraid right now, the vast majority of Afghans, they don't feel secure," said McKiernan.

But they do have hope, he insisted, and dismissed talk that a wave of Taliban attacks on roads around Kabul that has severely limited movement for local people and foreigners amounted to the encirclement of the city.

"I'm sure there are attempts to stage spectacular attacks in the city here that will play heavily in the media and play heavily in the (negative) perception of security," he said. "I want to stay committed to this battle of perceptions." -- For a related quote box click on [ID:nISL163719] (Writing by Sean Maguire, editing by Jon Boyle)

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