Taliban scoff at NATO troop increase

KABUL, Nov 30 (Reuters) NATO's plans to send more soldiers to Afghanistan to quell a resurgent Taliban would simply give the rebels more targets, a guerrilla commander said today.

''Increasing or expanding NATO troops in Afghanistan is not a worry for the Taliban, instead it will make targets for the Taliban mujahideen much easier,'' Commander Mullah Obaidullah told Reuters, adding the hardline Islamists could fight for 20 years.

''After five years of continuous fighting against foreign troops, the Taliban have become a strong military power and the Taliban are able to fight and defeat the strongest army.'' After months of requests for more troops from NATO commanders on the ground, a summit of alliance leaders this week agreed to a small increase in troop numbers and to ease some restrictions on how and where their forces can be deployed.

Obaidullah repeated Taliban threats to step up the suicide attacks which killed several foreign soldiers before and during the NATO summit in the Latvian capital, Riga.

Fighting in Afghanistan this year has been the worst since a US-led coalition ousted the Taliban government in 2001.

NATO and US officials say the rebels have been bolstered by the country's blossoming illegal opium trade -- hitting record levels this year -- and sanctuary in Pakistan.

NATO leaders pledged at the summit yesterday to stay the course to restore peace and stability in Afghanistan.

''It is winnable, it is being won, but not yet won,'' said NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer of the most dangerous ground combat in the alliance's 57-year history.

In October, NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) took over command of the country from US forces.

REUTERS AB VV1526