Militants pouring into Afghanistan from Pakistan: US general

[pkpatriotic]

KABUL: Insurgent violence in Afghanistan could reach record levels this year as militants increasingly target police and development projects, a top US general said on Thursday. Maj-Gen Jeffrey J Schloesser, who commands US forces in the country, said a large number of insurgents are still pouring into Afghanistan from Pakistan. Schloesser said violence this year "may well reach a higher level than it did in 2007". "What I have seen so far is the level of violence is more directed toward ... innocent Afghan people or ... not military forces, but forces such as police, and other security forces that are out trying to protect development projects," Schloesser told reporters in Kabul. "I think they are afraid to attack ... coalition forces and so they are going for what is an easier target," said Schloesser, who heads the 101st Airborne Division.

Schloesser also said a large number of Taliban and other militants, including foreign fighters, are crossing from Pakistan into Afghanistan to fight against US-led coalition and Afghan troops. "I do believe that those forces that we are fighting, that are the enemy of the Afghan people, are also a threat to Pakistani people," he said. Schloesser said that region of Pakistan is an "area that I am concerned about", but any coalition action there would be conducted in cooperation with Pakistan authorities.