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NATO to discuss 2,000 troops for border with Pakistan

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Thursday, February 08, 2007

NATO to discuss 2,000 troops for border with Pakistan

* Proposal made to increase number of combat operations in Southern Afghanistan
* Meeting of NATO defence ministers in Spain to try to hone military strategy

LONDON: NATO army chiefs have put together proposals for Afghanistan that would put an increased focus on the country’s borders and the south, reported the Financial Times on Wednesday.

The proposal, which takes the form of a formal statement of requirements for NATO’s mission there, will be discussed by defence ministers from NATO countries who are set to meet in Seville, Spain, on Thursday and Friday.

“The Afghanistan mission was always about creating the conditions for development to take place,” an unidentified NATO official was quoted as saying by the business daily.

“That means doing more on the border and more combat operations in the south, which is a hotbed of Taliban activity.”

The plan was submitted by General John Craddock, the commander of the 37-nation International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), said the Financial Times. Craddock’s plan calls for up to 2,000 soldiers being sent to the border, which he believes is used to provide support to Taliban forces from tribal areas of western Pakistan. The newspaper reported that two companies of soldiers would also be sent to the south of the country to boost NATO’s reserve there to about 1,000 soldiers.

At the meeting in Spain, NATO defence ministers will endeavour to hone their military strategy in Afghanistan, where Taliban-led insurgents have presented the alliance with its stiffest-ever challenge.

The informal meeting will see the US push its NATO allies to follow it in committing more troops and resources, with a new Taliban offensive likely in the spring. “We want to see a spirit of commitment and we want to see everybody give as generously as they can, both in terms of security support and in terms of development and political support to this mission,” said a senior US official.

“We learned our lesson the hard way on September 11 that you ignore Afghanistan at your peril,” said the official, referring to the Al Qaeda led suicide hijackings in the US.

The US, to be represented by Defence Secretary Robert Gates, has pledged to spend an extra $10.6 billion in Afghanistan and extend the tour of duty of more than 3,000 US troops there by four months. The official said NATO’s new military commander, US General Bantz Craddock, “will buttonhole individual chiefs of defence to do as much as they can and as he thinks nations ought to do”.

Despite the growing US pressure, NATO officials played down expectations that the 26 allies would come to the meeting with specific troop contributions in mind, even as commanders on the ground call for force increases.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\02\08\story_8-2-2007_pg1_1
 
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