Afghan war
October 4, 2009
In an interview with Britain's Sky News television, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the Afghanistan campaign would succeed but added that NATO needed to change strategy by focusing on the local population.
"It is achievable and we will succeed provided that we choose the right approach.... We need a new approach, we need a population-centric approach," Rasmussen said.
NATO troops would stay in Afghanistan "as long as it takes to finish our job," Rasmussen said. "I think it's important to stress that we will stay committed, we will stay in Afghanistan as long as it takes to finish our job but obviously that is not forever," he added.
He also stressed that it was too early to say how many extra troops should be sent to Afghanistan. The NATO chief's comments come as President Barack Obama considers a request from US commander General Stanley McChrystal for up to 40,000 more soldiers.
Although it was "premature" to comment on the number of extra troops needed, Rasmussen said Afghan forces could be built up to around 130,000 soldiers and 80,000 police.
Eight US troops killed
Rasmussen's comments come a day after US forces in Afghanistan suffered one of their bloodiest days in eight years of war in the country. On Saturday, eight American and two Afghan troops were killed when their remote outposts were overrun by hundreds of Taliban militants.
The combined force was operating under the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
Officials said the dawn raid saw militants sweep down a hillside in the eastern Nuristan province, to attack two posts in the mountainous border region, which is considered a haven for al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters.
The US forces called in airstrikes to repel the attack, in a fight that reportedly lasted into the night. A Taliban spokesman claimed that 30 foreign and Afghan troops were killed and that they captured a local police chief as well as 30 Afghan National Army soldiers.
Deadliest incident in a year
The attack was the deadliest single incident for US and NATO forces since 10 French troops died in an ambush in eastern Afghanistan in August 2008.
NATO is battling to quell a deadly insurgency that is spreading across Afghanistan, nearly eight years after the hardline Islamist Taliban were ousted from power.
Eastern Afghanistan has seen an escalation in violence recently as Taliban-linked militias spread their footprint beyond their traditional southern powerbase.
However, White House National Security Adviser James Jones said on Sunday he does not foresee the return to power of the Taliban, despite the spike in violence.
Political uncertainty has also exacerbated the tenuous security situation as no result has yet been declared in the August 20 presidential poll, which was marred by fraud allegations.
Attack on German troops
Meanwhile, Taliban militants attacked a German military convoy in Chardarah district of the northern Kunduz province on Saturday night.
The administrative chief of the district said that the attack sparked off a gun battle. The official said he could not say if there were any casualties on either side. However a Taliban spokesman claimed that the rebel fighters destroyed four German tanks and killed up to 13 soldiers.
There has been no confirmation from German military officials.
Germany has over 4,000 soldiers stationed in Afghanistan, serving alongside the 65,000-strong NATO-led force.
rb/AFP/dpa
Editor: Sonia Phalnikar