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No extra troops for Afghanistan

A plea for 2,500 more NATO troops to fight the Taliban resurgence goes unanswered.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published September 14, 2006

KABUL, Afghanistan - NATO nations failed to agree on calls by military commanders for 2,500 extra troops to help crush the growing Taliban-led insurgency in Afghanistan, where at least 50 people were killed Wednesday in widespread violence.

NATO announced that 173 people - including 151 Afghan civilians - have been killed in suicide bombings across the country since the start of the year. The remaining victims include NATO and U.S.-led coalition forces and Afghan authorities.

It was the first time NATO released such figures, and they indicate the dangerous change in tactics by militants, who have been following the lead of insurgent attacks in Iraq.

The ferocity of the Taliban resurgence since its 2001 ouster has taken U.S. and NATO commanders by surprise, particularly in southern provinces where NATO forces have been clashing daily with militants since taking control of the region on Aug. 1.

"Such blatant disregard for human life and potential undertaken by insurgents who callously ask to be called mujahedeen (holy warriors) cannot be more clear," said Maj. Luke Knittig, a NATO spokesman.

Meanwhile, thousands of Canadian troops reclaimed more contested territory from Taliban fighters in the southern Kandahar province insurgent hotbeds of Panjwayi and Zhari. NATO forces claim to have killed at least 517 militants in both districts since launching a large-scale campaign on Sept. 2 dubbed Operation Medusa.

Purported Taliban spokesmen dispute the death toll and say in videotapes that they are pushing NATO forces to the limit across the vast deserts and mountain ranges of Helmand and Kandahar provinces.

Some 8,000 Canadian, British and Dutch soldiers - almost half of the 20,000-strong NATO force - are leading the anti-Taliban push in the south. But military chiefs say another 2,500 troops, plus greater air support, would help them crush the Taliban threat more quickly.

In Brussels, allied military experts failed Wednesday to commit more troops, planes and helicopters to the NATO mission, despite a plea by the alliance's American commander, Gen. James L. Jones.

[Last modified September 14, 2006, 01:25:45]