Petraeus warns of bloody Afghan spring

Brussels: The top US and Nato commander in Afghanistan warned that combat will likely escalate during the spring thaw as Taliban insurgents try to return to areas cleared by the international forces during the past several months.

"There's been considerable progress in taking away from the Taliban safe havens," General David Petraeus said on Wednesday. "They have to fight back, they're losing momentum that's quite clear," he said. "They know they need to regain that momentum."

Last year's surge boosted the international force to about 150,000 troops. Nato and President Hamid Karzai hope to have more than 300,000 Afghan army and police in action by next autumn facing a much smaller organised insurgent force.

Last year was the deadliest of the nearly decade-long war for international troops, with more than 700 killed. This compares to about 500 in 2009, previously the worst year of the war. Record numbers of insurgents and civilians also have been killed.

The conflict usually dies down during the winter, as the guerrillas retreat to their safe havens to rest and recuperate. Petraeus said intelligence reports indicate that Taliban leaders are worried by the situation and that there is "friction and discord" between the guerrillas in the field and their leadership in Pakistan.

But analysts caution that the Taliban have simply fallen back in the face of an overwhelming forces, dispersing into other, safer parts of the country.

Nato deaths: February toll hits 10

Insurgents killed two members of Nato's mission to Afghanistan in the south of the country yesterday, bringing to 10 the number who have died so far this month, the multinational force said. Nato didn't release the names of the soldiers killed or say exactly where the attack took place.

A suicide bombing earlier this week in the southern province of Kandahar, which remains a hotbed of Taliban activity despite an influx of US troops over the past year, killed a retired US Customs and Border Protection officer and wounded three other US customs workers.