US general: strong Taliban emerging

Taliban forces fighting US troops in Afghanistan have grown stronger and more sophisticated, and are directing operations from neighboring Pakistan, a senior US commander has said. More than four years into the war in Afghanistan, an operation often overshadowed by the focus on Iraq, the top US commander there said the Taliban has grown in the south and reconstituted itself elsewhere. It is displaying better military command and its leaders remain elusive, he said. "The fact remains that we're up against an enemy that is able to operate very effectively on both sides of the border," Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry said in testimony to US lawmakers on June 28. Despite growing violence, NATO will take over military operations in southern Afghanistan in July. The planned transition to NATO's military leadership will allow the United States to bring home some of its 23,000 troops in Afghanistan. But in his public testimony, which preceded a closed-door classified briefing to lawmakers, Eikenberry did not discuss troop levels or offer a timeline for their drawdown. While the US military had disclosed plans in December to cut its contingent from 19,000 to about 16,500 this spring, troop levels remain higher. Including troops from other countries, the coalition force on the ground numbers 28,000, Eikenberry said. As the recently launched Operation Mountain Thrust continued, an insurgent attack on a British base killed two soldiers and an Afghan interpreter on July 1, while at least 20 militants died during clashes and coalition air strikes. A US helicopter crashed in an accident in southern Afghanistan, killing one crew member and injuring another. Since May, more than 600 Afghans, mostly militants, have been reported killed in Afghanistan, according to an Associated Press tally based on coalition and Afghan figures.