U.S. doubles troops to bolster Afghan army

KABUL, Afghanistan — The U.S. military has doubled the number of soldiers embedded in the Afghan army to speed the training of a fledgling force that is shouldering more of the security burden facing President Hamid Karzai's government, a spokesman said yesterday.

U.S. commanders insist a Taliban-led insurgency is losing steam, but a senior leader of the ousted regime vowed yesterday that violence will pick up after the country's harshest winter in years.

A group of 288 National Guard soldiers arrived in Afghanistan on Friday and Saturday to serve as trainers with the Afghan National Army, joining about 300 already assigned to Afghan units, Maj. Eric Bloom said.

Bloom said the new U.S. trainers are being schooled on the communications equipment used to call in strikes from U.S. warplanes to support the Afghans, who often operate along with U.S. special forces.

Lt. Gen. David Barno, the top commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, requested the extra troops to speed the training of the army, which has about 20,000 members but is slated to grow to 70,000 within two years.

Barno has suggested that the U.S. contingent of 17,000 could be trimmed this year if a reconciliation drive between Karzai's government and the Taliban takes off.

A man who identified himself as the Taliban's former defense minister claimed that only heavy snow and freezing temperatures were curbing Taliban attacks on U.S. and government forces.

"We will step up attacks as the weather changes," Mullah Obaidullah Akhund told AP by phone. " ... And Taliban will fight till the last Talib is alive."