Hundreds of Taliban massing to attack dam - official

SPIN BOLDAK, Afghanistan, Feb 12 (Reuters) At least 700 Taliban fighters have crossed from Pakistan into Afghanistan to attack a key dam, a major source of electricity, a provincial governor said today.

''We have got confirmed reports that they are Pakistani, Uzbek and Chechen nationals and have sneaked in,'' Helmand Governor Asadullah Wafa told Reuters by telephone.

The dam, Kajaki, has seen major fighting in recent weeks between the Taliban and NATO forces, mainly British and Dutch.

NATO, US and Taliban commanders warn a major offensive will come in spring when the snows melt in a few months, after the bloodiest year since the hardline Islamists were ousted by a US-led coalition in 2001.

More than 4,000 people died last year.

Wafa said the Taliban fighters were brought in by local commanders for a joint operation with al Qaeda.

''They are planning to destroy the Kajaki dam,'' he said, accusing Pakistan's military intelligence agency, ISI, of providing training and logistical support for the guerrillas.

''Pakistan is supporting the Taliban in order for them to keep fighting on in Afghanistan. They don't want Afghanistan's development and reconstruction,'' he said.

Pakistan denies continuing to support the Taliban, its former protege, but Afghan officials say it does. The United States says the guerrillas benefit from safe havens in Pakistan and support from fellow Pashtun tribes, while also rejecting charges Islamabad officially supports the resurgent rebels.

GATES VISITS PAKISTAN The Afghan government, backed by its western supporters, has launched a major effort to refurbish the dam and the power transmission network to increase its power output.

Wafa's comments came as US Defense Secretary Robert Gates visited Pakistan briefly on his way home from NATO talks in Spain in which Afghanistan and calls for more foreign troops features prominently.

He said the United States would not repeat the mistake of letting extremists take control of Afghanistan.

''After the Soviets left the United States made a mistake.

We neglected Afghanistan and extremism took control of that country,'' Gates told a news conference at the Chaklala military air base in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.

''The United States paid a price for that on Sept 11, 2001.

We won't make that mistake again,'' Gates said.

Several Taliban fighters were also killed today in an attack targeting a senior guerrilla leader closely linked to the Islamist movement's fugitive leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, the US-led coalition said in a statement.

It did not name the leader, nor say he was caught in the operation by US-led troops.

The militants were killed near the town of Greshk in Helmand, a Taliban bastion and the main drug producing region of Afghanistan, the world's largest producer of heroin.

REUTERS MQA RN1440