Nato warns of more violence in 2011 in Afghanistan

Dec 13, 2010 |

Kabul

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The US-led Nato alliance in Afghanistan warned on Monday that foreign soldiers will face further violence in 2011, capping what has been the deadliest year of the war on record.

"We're going to face more violence in 2011. It's not yet over. There will be still fighting, the work has not been done yet," said Brigadier General Josef Blotz, spokesman for Nato's International Security Assistance Force (Isaf).

"So we need to keep the pressure on the Taliban. We need to solidify the gains we have made over the last couple of months, and this will also lead to more confrontation," he said.

US President Barack Obama last December ordered an extra 30,000 American troops into Afghanistan, but the surge has failed to stem the nine-year Taliban insurgency with violence at an all time high.

At least 692 foreign soldiers have been killed in the Afghan war so far in 2010, by far the deadliest toll in the conflict, according to an AFP tally based on that tracked by the independent casualties.org website.

In 2009, 521 foreign troops were killed.

Mr Blotz said building pressure on the Taliban is key "not only to win over the Taliban but also protect the people of Afghanistan against the Taliban and reduce casualties by doing so".

"Therefore it is very important to increase our capacities, to increase numbers and quality of the Afghan security force plus the Afghan local police, and this is absolutely necessary," he added.

"I don't want to speculate on the number of casualties (2011)," the spokesman said.

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