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US to boost Afghan troop numbers
The United States military has said it will extend the tours of 3,200 troops in Afghanistan in order to counter an expected spring offensive by Taliban fighters.
Also on Thursday, Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, said the US government would ask congress for an additional $10.6 billion in military and civil aid to Afghanistan.
The troops from the 3rd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, were due to complete a one-year deployment next month, but their tour of duty had been extended by up to 120 days, the US defence department said in a statement.
Given other troop movements, the extension means the Pentagon will have about 2,500 more soldiers in Afghanistan than previously planned, for the next few months.
Training funds
Rice, meanwhile, told reporters she would ask congress for $8.6 billion in new money to train and equip the Afghan army and police and $2 billion for reconstruction projects.
"The challenges of the last several months have demonstrated that we want to, and should, redouble our efforts," Rice said as she flew to Brussels for a meeting of Nato foreign ministers on Friday that will focus on Afghanistan.
In 2006 more than 4,000 people died in fighting in Afghanistan and violence in the impoverished central Asian country is increasing.
Last year was the bloodiest in Afghanistan since US-led forces removed the Taliban from power in 2001 follwiong the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.
Shifting focus
The increase in forces comes as George Bush, the US president, is planning to send 21,500 extra troops to Iraq to combat growing sectarian violence.
Critics of Bush's policy in Iraq, including Hillary Clinton, a Democratic presidential hopeful, have urged Bush to focus instead on bolstering forces in Afghanistan.
More
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/9AAE6D7D-22DE-4212-AB32-C5E148DC5034.htm
The troops from the 3rd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, were due to complete a one-year deployment next month, but their tour of duty had been extended by up to 120 days, the US defence department said in a statement.
Given other troop movements, the extension means the Pentagon will have about 2,500 more soldiers in Afghanistan than previously planned, for the next few months.
Training funds
Rice, meanwhile, told reporters she would ask congress for $8.6 billion in new money to train and equip the Afghan army and police and $2 billion for reconstruction projects.
"The challenges of the last several months have demonstrated that we want to, and should, redouble our efforts," Rice said as she flew to Brussels for a meeting of Nato foreign ministers on Friday that will focus on Afghanistan.
In 2006 more than 4,000 people died in fighting in Afghanistan and violence in the impoverished central Asian country is increasing.
Last year was the bloodiest in Afghanistan since US-led forces removed the Taliban from power in 2001 follwiong the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.
Shifting focus
The increase in forces comes as George Bush, the US president, is planning to send 21,500 extra troops to Iraq to combat growing sectarian violence.
Critics of Bush's policy in Iraq, including Hillary Clinton, a Democratic presidential hopeful, have urged Bush to focus instead on bolstering forces in Afghanistan.
More
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/9AAE6D7D-22DE-4212-AB32-C5E148DC5034.htm
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Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said President Bush would ask Congress for an extra $10.6bn to fund security and development in Afghanistan.
Ms Rice made the announcement on the eve of a Nato meeting on Afghanistan in Brussels, which she is due to attend.
Earlier the Pentagon said thousands of US forces would stay on in Afghanistan.
It said 3,200 men of the 3rd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division would remain in the country for an extra four months after their tour of duty is meant to end.
It comes amid expectations that the Taleban will try to mount a spring offensive.
The BBC's Rob Watson in Brussels says this latest push by Washington is motivated in part by a desire to show its Nato allies it is not abandoning Afghanistan despite its troubles in Iraq.
But, he adds, the US is also genuinely worried that Afghanistan could slip backwards without more commitment from the international community.
More
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6299049.stm
· Change of strategy aimed at holding back Taliban
· Cash to bolster Afghan army and reconstruction
Ewen MacAskill in Washington
Friday January 26, 2007
The Guardian
The White House announced a major shift in its strategy towards Afghanistan yesterday that will see more aid and military help for the country after four years in which it has suffered from Washington's overwhelming focus on Iraq.
Facing failure in Iraq, where violence is worsening, the US is anxious to avoid a similar catastrophe in Afghanistan.
Billions of dollars are to be pumped into Afghanistan to help build up the army and for reconstruction projects such as roads, water, schools and clinics.
About 3,200 US troops in Afghanistan from the 3rd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division who were due to return home are to remain for a further 120 days to help Nato counter an expected Taliban spring offensive.
The White House is to ask Congress next month for $8bn (£4.1bn) in new funds, which is more than half the $14.2bn Washington has spent on Afghanistan since the US-led invasion in 2001.
Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said yesterday: "It had been over five years since we went into Afghanistan and the situation on the ground - economic and security - has changed.
"Substantial progress has been made in many areas, but it's also clear that the policy needed to be reviewed, so that we continue to improve the lives of Afghan citizens."
Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, is to brief fellow Nato ministers at a hastily-arranged meeting in Brussels today. Senior members of Congress, including Hillary Clinton, who recently returned from Afghanistan, have been pressing for more resources to avoid a repeat of Iraq.
More
http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,,1998986,00.html