Washington: US-led forces will face a
"difficult" year in 2010 as they fight to push back Taliban
militants from key areas, a top US general said on Tuesday.
The head of US forces in the Middle East and Central
Asia, General David Petraeus, told lawmakers "the going is
likely to get harder before it gets easier" in the Afghan war.
He said that "2010 will be a difficult year, a year that
will see progress and a reversal of the Taliban momentum in
important areas, but also a year in which there will be tough
fighting and periodic setbacks."
About 128,000 foreign troops are deployed in the NATO-led
force in Afghanistan, with American forces comprising about
two-thirds of the force.
President Barack Obama has ordered in 30,000 US
reinforcements and approved a new strategy in a bid to turn
around the war, which has entered its ninth year.
"As we seek to expand security for the people and to take
from the Taliban control of key areas, the enemy will fight
back," Petraeus told the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Casualties among US troops are on the rise, as a larger
force seeks to clear out Taliban militants from southern
strongholds.
Petraeus said that a surge of US forces was unlikely to
produce the kind of dramatic reduction in violence that
occurred in Iraq after additional American forces were
deployed there.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, March 17, 2010, 00:26