US boosts troops, plans more aid for Afghanistan

Washington, Jan 26: The United States has extended the tours of duty of 3,200 troops in Afghanistan and plans more than 8 billion dollars in aid for the country in a drive to halt a Taliban resurgence, officials today said.

The troops from the 3rd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, were due to complete a year-long deployment next month, defense officials said. But their tour has been extended by up to 120 days, the Defense Department said in a statement.

With more than 4,000 people dying in violence, last year was the bloodiest in Afghanistan since US-led forces toppled the Taliban hard-line Islamist government in 2001 in response to the September 11 attacks on the United States.

US commanders have said they expect the Taliban to try to increase the level of violence again in spring. Fighting in Afghanistan traditionally subsides in the winter but picks up again after the snows melt.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said last week on a visit to Afghanistan that he was sympathetic to requests by US and NATO commanders for more troops.

By keeping in place both the brigade and the soldiers who have arrived to replace them, commanders can significantly boost the size of US forces in Afghanistan, most of whom form part of a NATO force charged with stabilizing the country.

''This extension will provide military capability for NATO to maintain the initiative and build upon the success achieved in promoting stability and security, while denying safe haven for the Taliban,'' the Pentagon said.

The US administration also plans to ask Congress for more than 8 billion dollars in aid, a senior official said.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack declined to provide an exact amount for the budget request but said it was ''very substantial''.

''We believe that our approach is going to reinforce the successes we have had in Afghanistan. There are still challenges,'' McCormack told reporters.

The troop increase comes as US President George W. Bush is also sending 21,500 more troops to Iraq in an effort to contain an insurgency and sectarian conflict. Critics including Sen Hillary Rodham Clinton, a Democratic presidential hopeful, have urged Bush to focus instead on bolstering forces in Afghanistan.

There are some 24,000 US troops in Afghanistan, including both those whose tours are being extended and those originally intended to replace them, defense officials said.

Taking into account other troop movements, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan would probably be around 2,500 higher than had been planned.

While most of the US troops form part of a NATO force which is more than 33,000-strong, the US military also has troops under its own command whose missions range from counter-terrorism to training Afghan forces.

Whitman said the United States wanted other NATO countries to provide assets for the Afghan mission that commanders say they require but have not yet received. Those include a battalion which could be deployed anywhere in the country.

''What we want is for NATO to fulfill the remainder of its commitment... and to allow the forces that they have deployed there to be more flexible,'' Whitman said.

Reuters