Afghan Taliban say rearmed, ready for war

SPIN BOLDAK, Afghanistan, Feb 23 (Reuters) Rearmed with new guns the Taliban today vowed this would be the deadliest year for foreign soldiers in Afghanistan since the Islamists were toppled in 2001.

''This year will prove to be the bloodiest for the foreign troops. It is not just a threat, we will prove it,'' senior commander Mullah Dadullah told Reuters by satellite phone.

''The Taliban's war preparations are going on in caves and in mountains. Our 6,000 fighters are ready for attacks on foreign troops after the change in weather and as it becomes warmer.'' His comments came as Britain approved a plan to send a wave of extra troops to Afghanistan to repel an expected spring offensive by the Taliban, British government sources said.

Taliban leaders say they expect to be able to field 10,000 soldiers after the bloodiest year since the Taliban's ouster in 2001, with a big increase in suicide fighters after conventional pitched battles brought heavy losses for the rebels.

With winter snows melting, fighting has already picked up dramatically in recent weeks.

Dadullah said the extra weapons the Taliban were being supplied -- he did not say from where -- included the ability to bring down the NATO and US helicopters crucial to their operations in this rugged, mountainous country.

The rebels said they shot down a twin-rotor Chinook helicopter earlier this month in southern Afghanistan that killed eight US soldiers and wounded 14. The US said the pilot reported engine ailure.

The insurgents have claimed several foreign chopper downings, but only one has been confirmed since the 2001 war. That was in 2005 when 17 soldiers died when their craft was hit as it came in to land during combat operations.

NATO, the United States and the Taliban are promising spring offensives in what they and analysts regard a crunch year in a country still in crisis more than five years after the Taliban's fall.

More than 4,000 people, a quarter of them civilians, died in fighting last year.

But today, more than 30,000 people rallied in a Taliban execution ground to support an all-embracing amnesty for war criminals, including members of parliament and government officials.

Parliament insists amnesty for those guilty in almost 30 years of war is essential for peace and reconciliation. Local and international rights groups say punishment is essential for peace and to allow the country to move on.

REUTERS BDP PM1801