NATO general says forces in Afghanistan adequate

PARIS, May 30 (Reuters) NATO's top general in Europe today said the international peacekeeping force in Afghanistan is big enough for now to handle the threats it faces, ranging from Taliban insurgents to drugs cartels.

''From my standpoint, the mission as it is currently sourced is adequate,'' General James Jones told a meeting of NATO's parliamentary assembly in Paris.

More than 350 people have been killed in a spate of attacks in south and east Afghanistan in the past few weeks in the bloodiest phase of the Taliban insurgency.

At least eight Afghans were killed and 100 wounded in Kabul on Monday in the worst anti-US riots in the capital since the fall of the Taliban. The violence was sparked by a fatal road accident involving a US army truck.

NATO last month backed a plan to increase foreign troop numbers in Afghanistan to around 32,500 by August, the highest level since US-led forces overthrew the Taliban in late 2001.

The change means NATO will extend its operations into the south of the country, traditionally an area of Taliban strength.

Jones said the latest surge in violence was due to a traditional increase in attacks in the spring, plus growing pressure on opponents of the Kabul government as Afghan troops extended their reach and took on drug cartels.

''Traditional zones of comfort for the opposition are being tested and probed,'' he said.

What he said the remnants of the Taliban and al Qaeda forces overthrown in the US-led invasion were not the only enemy.

''Absolutely, we must tackle the narcotics problem,'' he said.

fghanistan is the world's largest producer of heroin and the drugs trade has been identified as one of the leading sources of funds behind the insurgency.

''The violence in Afghanisnn is very disparate,'' and is not all caused by the Taliban, he said. ''Other sources of violence in Afghanistan come from the cartels, the narcotics cartels, the criminal elements, someimes intertribal violence and from the remnants of al Qaeda and the Taliban itself,'' Jones added.

''There are multiple elements of the security system that have to be considered. I would strongly recommend that we not see the insurgence of the Taliban as the only thing that's going on in Afghanistan,'' he said.

''I would also suggest very clearly that the outcome of Afghanistan will not be determined by military capabilities alone.

We absolutely need to do more in Afghanistan to restore the system of justice, to reform the police,'' he said.

REUTERS SY BD1941