Afghanistan

UK, Australia promise more troops, Taliban threaten new offensive

Article published on the 2009-04-29 Latest update 2009-04-29 13:34 TU

A German military policeman checks his position on his GPS after an armoured personnel carrier is stuck in mud road during a mission in Aliabad district near Kunduz
(Photo: Reuters)

Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan say they will launch a new campaign of suicide bombings and attacks on pro-government and international forces. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Stienmeier discussed increasing his country's troop presence with President Hamid Karzai, after the UK and Australia promised to increase theirs.

As the US prepares President Barack Obama's surge of troops and civilian trainers to Afghanistan, the Taliban declared that they will counter with a fresh campaign of bombings and other attacks.

A spokesperson told the AFP news agent that the campaign will be called "Operation Nasrat" and will start on Thursday. Targets will include foreign troops and diplomats, Afghan government officials and MPs and smployees of the Defence, Interior and Intelligence Ministries.

Military officials tend to dismiss the significance of such threats.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced Wednesday that his country, which is the second-biggest contributor to the Nato-led force, will increase its troop presence to 9,000 for the August presidential election. Australia's Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said that his country's presence will increase by 450 to 1,550 troops.

On the day that Steinmeier met Karzai, four German troops were wounded in a suicide car bomb attack in northern Kunduz province. Germany has 3,500 soldiers in Afghanistan.

The US military on Wednesday claimed to have killed 42 suspected Taliban in clashes in Uruzgan, Helmand and Logar provinces.

The Education Ministry announced on Wednesday announced that 70 Afghan teachers, students and other education workers wer killed and another 140 injured over the last year. It said that about a quarter of the casualties were caused by crime and the rest by "terrorist attacks".

About 480 schools are closed because of insecurity, while about 100 were reopened after local people put pressure on the Taliban to spare schools, ministry official Asif Nang said.