NATO To Double Peacekeeping Troops In Afghanistan
Julie Farby - All Headline News Staff Writer Brussels, Belgium (AHN)-Officials say NATO defense ministers who meet in Brussels on Thursday will declare the alliance's plans to nearly double peacekeeping troops in Afghanistan on track despite mounting violence there. The 26-nation body expects to raise troop levels to some 17,000 from 9,000 and move into the perilous south by late-July, giving Washington the scope to cut its forces in the existing U.S.-led Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) operation there. According to the Reuters report, recent months have marked the bloodiest period in an insurgency that has been raging since U.S.-backed forces ousted a Taliban government in 2001. Some 400 people were killed last month alone, as the Taliban stepped up attacks in the south in an apparent attempt to weaken the resolve of NATO governments. The expansion will allow the United States to withdraw some of the estimated 3,000 U.S. troops in the south, but the U.S envoy to Afghanistan insisted it will keep a strong presence, with around 20,000 of a total 33,000-35,000 foreign troops. Meanwhile, Britain, Canada and the Netherlands are due to lead the deployment to the south, which includes Afghanistan's main opium-growing region and most dangerous territories.
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