U.S. Commander Needs More Troops In Afghanistan Ahead Of Winter Campaign

Kabul, Afghanistan (AHN) - The U.S.-led coalition leader in Afghanistan has urged the Bush administration to increase the number of troops to combat violence and increasing border insurgency from Pakistan.

Jeffrey Scholoesser, a U.S. major general commanding U.S. and international troops in eastern Afghanistan, said the coalition need more troops to fight winter campaign waged by militants.

Scholoesser, in a video conference with reporters at the Pentagon, said that insurgent activities increase during the winter weather.

According to Scholoesser, the level of significant militant activities and violence will be higher than any previous winter since 2002.

Scholoesser said he is planning to launch a "winter offensive" over the next few months but U.S. commanders in eastern Afghanistan region have low numbers of troops to support their operations.

At present, there are now around 33,000 U.S. troops deployed across Afghanistan, compared to approximately 146,000 in Iraq.

While, Pentagon has recommended President George W. Bush to increase troops by 4,500 in addition to the current number in Afghanistan by early next year.

The number of attacks on the security officials have increased in Afghanistan as the U.S.-led coalition forces and the local police have launched a few intense operations to comb out rebels from their stronghold regions.

Afghan police are easy targets for the Taliban militants as personnel do not have adequate equipments or they are not well trained to handle ambush attacks.

According to the reports, more than 1,000 Afghan police were killed by the insurgents as the U.S. forces are slowly transferring powers to the local government.