Afghan unrest will rise in 2009: US military chief

WASHINGTON-Violence in Afghanistan is set to rise in the coming months as extra US troops arrive in the country to battle a bloody insurgency, US military chief Admiral Michael Mullen warned Tuesday."I look forward to a very active year. I want to be clear that my expectations are as we add more troops, the violence level in Afghanistan is going to go up," Mullen, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, told ABC television."That said, it will put us in a position to start to turn the tide and provide security for the Afghan people which is absolutely critical in addition to training the Afghan forces, which I expect to improve significantly over the next 12 months," he said.The United States is sending an additional 21,000 troops to Afghanistan to join some 38,000 already deployed there."I'm very sure that the additional 17,000 combat troops, plus the additional 4,000 training troops, will have the right impact," Mullen said.President Barack Obama is to decide later in the year whether to approve the deployment of a further 10,000 troops, US officials said earlier this month.In the past two years, the Islamic Taliban militia ousted from power by the United States in 2001 has regrouped and hit back against the 70,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan. They have been joined by Al-Qaeda militants based in the lawless border areas of Pakistan."We need combat troops to provide security for the Afghan people which is what's missing right now, particularly in southern Afghanistan," Mullen said. "And we need the trainers to train the Afghan army and the Afghan police, so that they can take the lead in providing for that security in the long run. That's really the solution to the security challenge."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090414/pl_afp/afghanistanunrestusmullen_20090414153318

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