NATO to Double Troops in Afghanistan

Monday June 5, 2006 1:16 AM
By DANIEL COONEY
Associated Press Writer

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - NATO will double the number of soldiers in southern Afghanistan when it takes over security there from U.S. troops next month, seeking to quash the worst rebel violence since the Taliban's ouster, the NATO force commander said Sunday.

Lt. Gen. David Richards also said NATO troops will be more ``people friendly'' in an effort to win the support of the local population amid rising resentment over what many Afghans see as overly aggressive tactics by the separate U.S.-led coalition force.

There was no letup in the fighting in the south, meanwhile. More than two dozen people died in weekend violence, including four in a failed attempt to blow up the governor of Kandahar province, the birthplace of the Taliban religious militia.

The British Defense Ministry said Sunday that five suspected Taliban militants had been killed and two detained by British troops during a ``cordon and search operation'' in southern Afghanistan. The ministry said no British troops were injured but offered no other details of the operation, including when it occurred.

At a news conference in Kabul, Richards said the number of troops that the U.S.-led coalition has had in southern Afghanistan hasn't been sufficient to deal with the surge in violence.

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