U.S. defense chief sees opportunity in Afghanistan this spring

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday saw opportunity to turn the tables on the Taliban this spring.

"We have an opportunity this spring to significantly disrupt the increasing level (of violence) we have seen in recent years caused by the Taliban," he told reporters at the end of the first day of an informal meeting of NATO defense ministers.

He said the year 2007 will be crucial for Afghanistan.

For many years, the Taliban have become more aggressive in spring, he explained. But the NATO defense ministers have agreed to bring the situation under control this spring and to reverse that trend line.

He asked allies to work harder to that end.

"I was very clear in saying (at the meeting) that nations should fulfill all the commitments they have made and I hope they will do so quickly."

The United States and Britain have pledged to augment troops in Afghanistan. But key European troops-contributing countries have resisted Washington's pressure to follow suit.

Spain, France, Italy and Turkey have ruled out additional troops. The German cabinet approved plans to send six reconnaissance jets to southern Afghanistan on the eve of the Seville meeting. But the country has refused to deploy its troops from the relatively calm north to the volatile south.

Both Gates and NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer argued that there has been progress with regard to force generation.

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan has had 5,000 additional troops since NATO's Riga summit last November, bring the grand total to 35,000, de Hoop Scheffer told reporters earlier on Thursday.

The progress is something that had not been expected, said the NATO chief.

Both men confirmed that certain countries pledged more equipment on Thursday. But they refused to go to details.

ISAF faces a daunting task in the coming weeks as the Taliban may well launch their offensive and carry out more suicide attacks.

About 4,000 people, most of them rebels, were killed in violence last year, making 2006 the bloodiest year since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.

Source: Xinhua