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Up to 30,000 new US troops in Afghanistan by summer
The United States is aiming to send 20,000 to 30,000 extra troops to Afghanistan by the beginning of next summer, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Saturday.
- Agencies
- Published: 08:23 December 21, 2008
Kabul: The United States is planning to send 20,000 to 30,000 extra troops to Afghanistan by the beginning of next summer, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Saturday.
Washington is already sending around 3,000 extra troops in January and another 2,800 by spring, but officials previously have said the number would be made up to 20,000 in the next 12 to 18 months, once approved by the US administration.
"Some 20 to 30,000 is the window of overall increase from where we are right now. I don't have an exact number," Admiral Mike Mullen told reporters in Kabul.
"We've agreed on the requirement and so it's really clear to me we're going to fill that requirement so it's not a matter of if, but when," he said.
"We're looking to get them here in the spring, but certainly by the beginning of summer at the latest."
US Army General David McKiernan, the commander of international forces in Afghanistan, has asked for the extra troops to combat a growing Taliban insurgency in the east and south of Afghanistan.
US President-elect Barack Obama has pledged a renewed focus on Afghanistan, where US-led forces toppled the Taliban government in late 2001 after the September 11 attacks.
The United States now has some 31,000 troops in Afghanistan.
After the January deployment, most of the reinforcements are to be sent to southern Afghanistan to boost mainly British, Canadian and Dutch troops who have suffered heavy casualties in the last two years fighting in the Taliban heartland.
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