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Up to 30,000 more U.S. troops in Afghanistan by summer | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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KABUL, (Reuters) – The United States is looking to send 20,000 to 30,000 extra troops to Afghanistan by the beginning of next summer, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Saturday.

Washington is already sending some 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 U.S. 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.”

U.S. Army General David McKiernan has asked for the extra troops to halt a growing Taliban insurgency particularly in the east and south of Afghanistan.

U.S. President-elect Barack Obama has pledged a renewed focus on Afghanistan, where U.S.-led forces toppled the Taliban government in late 2001 after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.

The United States has about 31,000 troops in Afghanistan, some operating independently and some as part of a 51,000-strong NATO-led force.

After the January deployment, most of the reinforcements are to be sent to southern Afghanistan to bolster mainly British, Canadian and Dutch troops who have suffered heavy casualties in the last two years fighting in the Taliban heartland. “That’s where the toughest fight is,” Mullen said. “When we get additional troops here, I think the violence level is going to go up. The fight will be tougher.” He said beefing up U.S. forces in Afghanistan was linked to winding down in Iraq. “Available forces are directly tied to forces in Iraq. As we look to the possibility of reducing forces in Iraq over the course of the next year, the availablility of forces to come here in Afghanistan will increase,” Mullen said. He said at the same time, more must be done to boost economic development in Afghanistan, one of the world’s poorest countries, and to make the Afghan government more effective. “It isn’t going to make any difference after those troops get here … if we haven’t made progress on the development side and on the governance side. No amount of troops, no amount of time will provide a solution here without development,” he said.