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Yahoo! My Yahoo! Mail Yahoo! Search Search: Sign InNew User? Sign Up News Home - Help Navigation Primary Navigation Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Top Stories Most Popular Secondary Navigation Australia China India Indonesia Japan Malaysia Philippines Thailand Vietnam Search Search: US general cites shortage of Afghan forces AFP - Thursday, July 9 WASHINGTON (AFP) - - The commander of US Marines in southern Afghanistan said there was an urgent need for more Afghan security forces as well as civilian experts to back up a major offensive against Taliban insurgents. ADVERTISEMENT "I'm not going to sugarcoat it. The fact of the matter is we don't have enough Afghan forces, and I'd like more," Brigadier General Larry Nicholson told reporters in a teleconference. A week after the launch of the US-led campaign against insurgents in the southern Helmand River valley, Nicholson said he was "cautiously optimistic" about the operation -- one of the biggest since US-led forces toppled the Taliban regime in 2001. But he said the 4,000 Marines were accompanied by only about 650 Afghan security forces. "Imagine if I had 4,000 Marines with 4,000 Afghan forces. I mean, it would not even be comparable to even the relative success that we've had over these first seven days," the general said from Camp Leatherneck, a Marine base in Helmand province. He said that the US military and Kabul government were working to deploy more Afghan forces to the south while expanding the country's army and police forces. "But the bottom line answer is, I'd like more, I need more," he said. The general said he was satisfied he had enough US troops for the moment in the south, where about 10,000 Marines are deployed. But he said more Afghan security forces would make the Marines more effective, as the goal of the coalition mission was to win the trust and confidence of the population. The Afghan troops "see things we'll never see," Nicholson said. "They understand politically what's going on in an area that we'll just never get, no matter how much cultural training our guys get." It also was crucial to increase the number of US civilian experts in the south to bring economic development to Afghan villages and towns, he said. "I'd like to get more, and I know more are coming," Nicholson said. There were five civilians from the US government serving in the south and five more were due to arrive by September, said Kael Weston, a State Department official who also spoke at the briefing from Helmand. The American civilian development experts were working with a British-led reconstruction team of about 100, he said. The numbers appeared to fall far short of the civilian "surge" promised by President Barack Obama's administration when it rolled out its new strategy for the Afghan war. Weston said the numbers might seem low relative to the size of the military contingent but that the civilians on the ground had extensive knowledge and budget resources at their disposal. In an upbeat assessment of the southern offensive after one week, Nicholson said the Marines were holding key insurgent centers after relatively little resistance with about 10 incidents of combat so far. "We've taken a hell of a large swath of Taliban heartland away from them," he said. The general said the Taliban likely would soon launch counter-attacks to assert control of the province, a center for the poppy crop and lucrative opium trade that helps finance the insurgency. "They have gone to ground," he said. "This enemy is not going to just stay away. This area is far too valuable, far too important to them." Nicholson said there had been no reports of civilian casualties in the operation, a top concern for US commanders who are anxious to defuse public anger over civilian deaths from US air raids. Asked if the influx of American troops would reduce the need for air power, he said: "Absolutely, absolutely." As thousands of Marines moved in throughout Helmand province, they had orders to meet with tribal leaders and village elders to forge ties to the local population, Nicholson said. The Marines have pushed far down the Helmand River valley, setting up in the towns of Nawa and Garmsir and taking control of Khanishin in the far south towards Pakistan. After US forces moved in to Khanishin, the provincial governor and an Afghan commander on Wednesday raised the Afghan national flag over the town's 18th century castle. Nicholson said it was the first time in many years the flag had flown over the town that has been dominated by the Taliban. 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