In These New Times

PressTV

6th January, 2011

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has decided to send an additional 1,400 marines to Afghanistan, the first series of which could begin arriving on the ground as early as mid January.

The forces would mostly be deployed in southern Afghanistan, around Kandahar, where the US has concentrated troops over the past several months, The Wall Street Journal said on Thursday.

According to commanders in Afghanistan temporarily adding front-line forces will help counter an anticipated spring offensive by Taliban militants returning from neighboring Pakistan.

They will join the nearly 100,000 American troops already stationed in the war-torn country.

The surge comes despite an earlier promise by US President Barack Obama to withdraw American forces from Afghanistan by July 2011.

The Taliban are at their strongest in the war-ravaged country despite the presence of US-led foreign troops.

More than 700 foreign troops were killed in Afghanistan in 2010, making it the deadliest year since the start of the US-led invasion of the country in 2001.

Afghan civilian casualties were also at record levels. The number of civilians killed or wounded in the Afghan war increased by 20 percent during the first 10 months of 2010 compared with the same period last year.