AFGHANISTAN:The United States will send an additional force of about 3,200 marines to Afghanistan this spring to help Nato troops and Afghan security forces confront rising Taliban violence, the Pentagon said yesterday.
The expansion, which increases the number of US forces deployed to Afghanistan by more than 10 per cent, follows months of unsuccessful US efforts to persuade Nato allies to provide extra combat forces.
Violence has surged in Afghanistan over the past two years, with the hardline Islamist Taliban fighting a guerrilla war in the south and east and carrying out high-profile suicide and car bombings across the country. Extra US combat forces are needed to help thwart an expected offensive by the militants as snows melt in the coming months, US defence officials say.
President George Bush approved the deployment on the recommendation of defence secretary Robert Gates. The Pentagon said 2,200 troops from the 24th marine expeditionary unit will be sent in March to serve under the Nato-led international security assistance force in southern Afghanistan, which is the heart of the Taliban resistance.
About 1,000 marines from another battalion will deploy in April to expand the training Afghan national security forces.
The move, which was widely anticipated, suggests the Bush administration cannot expect Nato to provide a large share of extra combat forces in southern Afghanistan, which are needed to help clear and retain territory taken from militants, analysts said.
"Nato's need is in the south at the moment. But what the US has found is that most Nato countries are not willing to deploy forces to conduct combat operations where they're needed most," said Seth Jones, an Afghanistan expert at Rand Corp.
The prospect of sending forces into combat is too politically sensitive for some Nato countries, while others believe the battle against the Taliban can best be waged through development rather than military force, analysts said.
Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said the deployment was a one-time mission for "very finite period of time" that would not eliminate the need for troops from Nato allies. "We've made it clear that this is seven months, this is a one-time deal, that's it," he said. "Beyond that we are going to need our allies' help to either back-fill this deployment or perhaps match us in the numbers we're putting forth now." -