WASHINGTON, Jan 23: Insurgents in Afghanistan have always used summer for expediting their activities but this year the United States fears a major offensive and wants to use the opportunity to crush the Taliban militia.
From the secretary of defence to unnamed official sources who speak to reporters all insist that there will be “heavy fighting” in Afghanistan this summer and they also emphasize the need to send more money and troops to Afghanistan.
On Monday, the head of Nato forces in Afghanistan, General David Richards, repeated his request for more troops for a year-long push that he believes will defeat the Taliban. The general commands 32,000 troops, including 5,000 British soldiers, which make up the Nato-led international security assistance force based in Kabul.
The Americans have 23,000 troops in Afghanistan and are scheduled to take command of all Nato forces next month.
Last year, top Nato commanders called for another 2,000 to 2,500 more troops to add to more than 40,000 foreign troops already deployed in Afghanistan.
Last week, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said that he was “sympathetic” to these requests for more troops because he felt Nato and US commanders in Afghanistan did not have enough forces to defeat the Taliban insurgency.
During a visit to London earlier this month, Mr Gates also asked Britain to send more troops to Afghanistan in a move which military sources say could mean the deployment of an extra 1000-man British battle group this year.
Also on Monday, the US ambassador to Kabul, Ronald Neumann, said that he expected “some heavy fighting in the spring, both in the south and in the east” of Afghanistan.
During a visit to northern Parwan province on Monday, Ambassador Neumann said that the Nato-led force in Afghanistan was still 20 per cent short of the troop strength pledged by the members of the alliance.
US and Nato commanders are asking for more money as well and according to a media report, the Bush administration could seek $5 billion to $6 billion in a supplemental budget request to Congress to meet their demand. This would cover a stepped-up effort to train the Afghan military and police as well as improve infrastructure.
