Kabul: Afghanistan's government will provide
more than 1,000 police reinforcements to the southern province
of Kandahar after Taliban attacks killed dozens of people
there ahead of a coming offensive on the insurgent stronghold,
an official said on Tuesday.
The Ministry of Interior agreed with a provincial request
for more security, Kandahar Governer Tooryalai Wesa said.
Wesa asked for more police after multiple bombs over the
weekend killed at least 35 people in Kandahar city. The
Taliban called the attacks a "warning" that they are ready for
the war's next phase.
Afghan and NATO troops are planning to move into
Kandahar, the Taliban's spiritual birthplace, later this year
after securing another stronghold in neighboring Helmand
province. The southern push is part of a new counterinsurgency
strategy and follows President Barack Obama's decision to send
30,000 new American troops to Afghanistan to reverse insurgent
gains.
Some of the 1,100 new Afghan police in Kandahar will come
from the capital, Kabul, and some will be recruited and
trained locally, Wesa said. It will take a few months to put
the new forces in place.
Hanif Atmar, the minister of interior, pledged to send
more security forces when he visited Kandahar on Monday to
attend funerals of the bombing victims. Atmar put the number
of new police at 1,200 in Kandahar city and the surrounding
province.
Bureau Report
First Published: Tuesday, March 16, 2010, 18:53