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US allies offer 7,000 troops for Afghan surge
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US allies offer 7,000 troops for Afghan surge
AFP - Saturday, December 5
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BRUSSELS (AFP) - – The United States on Friday welcomed new troop commitments from its allies to fight the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, warning that the battle was a crucial test for NATO.
Eight years after driving the Taliban out of power, more than 40 nations are preparing to boost troop numbers in Afghanistan up to around 150,000 over 18 months to launch a new offensive against the insurgents. Related article: US advisor reassures Afghans
As NATO foreign ministers met to discuss the new strategy, more than 1,000 soldiers, mainly from the United States, began a major drive to clear insurgents from a key battleground in southern Afghanistan, the military said.
"This is a crucial test for NATO, which has been the greatest and most successful military alliance in history," US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters, after the talks in Brussels.
"It is crucial that we remain firm in our resolve and see this mission through," she said. Related article: NATO facing 'crucial' test in Afghanistan
On Wednesday, US President Barack Obama committed more than 30,000 troops to a new effort to seize the initiative from the insurgents, eight years after the Taliban was ousted from power.
Washington called on European allies and partners fighting alongside US troops in Afghanistan to find 5,000-7,000 soldiers to swell their ranks as part of a new strategy with the protection of civilians at its epicentre.
"At least 25 countries have announced that they will send more forces to the mission in 2010," said Clinton. "This is a significant commitment." Related article: US hails NATO troop surge
She also noted: "We are keenly aware that the members of this alliance have paid a steep price" in Afghanistan, with casualties rising there over the last year as the insurgents have taken the upper hand.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said US allies had offered some 7,000 troops and that more pledges were expected, some after a conference on Afghanistan in London on January 28.
"They have offered around 7,000 forces with more to come," he said.
Italy confirmed Thursday that it was ready to send 1,000 extra soldiers, a figure matched by Georgia, while Poland is likely to send 600. Britain has committed 500 and South Korea 400, according to NATO officials.
A further 1,500 troops -- 700 of them British -- sent to provide security for the fraud-marred elections in August will remain in Afghanistan to help implement the new counter-insurgency strategy.
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband urged allies to back the new strategy.
"We are now at a vital time, and we all know that in the 1990s Afghanistan was the incubator of international terrorism, the incubator of choice for global jihad," he told reporters.
"It's very important that we make progress," he said. "We know that the stakes are very high indeed."
If the pledges are met, international forces and the Afghan army could total almost 300,000 troops by the middle of next year, around 10 times more than ISAF estimates of the number of Al-Qaeda, Taliban and other militants.
But while the plan has been welcomed at NATO, Pakistan -- Afghanistan's neighbour which is also battling Islamist insurgents -- has not yet backed it, amid fears that a withdrawal could embolden the Taliban on its own territory.
Suicide bombers stormed a packed mosque in Pakistan's garrison city Rawalpindi on Friday, opening fire and detonating explosives that killed at least 32 people, Pakistani officials said.
Clinton sought to reassure Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as NATO allies, that a vow to start pulling out US troops in mid-2011 did not signal a rapid departure.
"At that time, we will begin to transfer authority and responsibility to Afghan security forces -- removing combat forces from Afghanistan over time with the assurance that Afghanistan's future, and ours, is secure," she said.
"The pace, size, and scope of the drawdown will be predicated on the situation on the ground," she said, adding that the withdrawal was important to convince the Afghan government to quickly build up its military.
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