Troop levels reach record high in Afghanistan

 

BAGRAM, Afghanistan (AP) — The 101st Airborne Division took command of American forces in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, helping to boost U.S. troop levels in the country to their highest number since the 2001 invasion.

Marching in step, paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne retired the unit's flag during a ceremony under a light rain beside the main runway at Bagram Air Field. Then 101st paratroopers unfurled their flag, officially marking the start of their 15-month tour.

The 101st has 7,200 troops in Afghanistan, several hundred more than the 82nd. Its arrival, coupled with the deployment of some 3,500 Marines to the country's south, has pushed the total number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan to over 32,000, part of a steady rise in force levels as violence has increased over the last two years.

The top American commander in Afghanistan has requested three more brigades — about 7,500 more troops — and the Pentagon has promised that more troops will be sent next year.

Following the 2001 ouster of the Taliban, the U.S. had fewer than 10,000 troops in the country, and no real presence in the volatile south.

"What has become clear as the insurgency has picked up steam over the last year or two is that an increasing number of forces are needed to clear and hold territory," said Seth Jones, an analyst who follows Afghanistan for the RAND Corp. "In fact, I think a significant number more are needed. I would like to see those U.S. numbers come up."

In late 2006, on the five-year anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion, Afghanistan had 40,000 international troops. Today, that number is almost 70,000.

The buildup follows several recent reports warning that Afghanistan risks becoming a failed state because of deteriorating international support, spiraling opium production and the growing insurgency. U.S. intelligence officials have reported that al-Qaeda is getting stronger in the Afghan-Pakistan region.

Last year was the deadliest in Afghanistan since 2001. The U.N. says more than 8,000 people died in insurgency-related violence, including more than 1,500 civilians.

Unlike in Iraq, where the U.S. provides the vast majority of troops, a 40-nation alliance in Afghanistan contributes half of the overall military force, though only British, Canadian and Dutch troops engage in heavy fighting.

A suicide car bomber targeting a U.S.-led coalition convoy in the south killed eight civilians and wounded 25 other people Thursday, including three coalition soldiers, officials said.

The 82nd, based at Fort Bragg, N.C., spent 15 months in the country after the Pentagon extended tours an additional three months in Iraq and Afghanistan.

An outgoing U.S. commander said he's seen a significant reduction in Taliban and al-Qaeda operations over the last year in the six provinces he commanded along the Afghan-Pakistan border.

"I'm pretty convinced that the effect of al-Qaeda as it relates to Afghanistan is being reduced," Col. Martin Schweitzer said.

Jones, the analyst, said that it appears violence has gone down in the east, where the U.S. primarily operates. But he said the south — like Helmand and Kandahar provinces — is "incredibly violent," and that the insurgency is spreading into the west and areas around the capital as well.

Schweitzer said he'd like to see the success U.S. forces have had in the east replicated in the south, where British, Canadian and Dutch troops operate but where the insurgency is thriving. Schweitzer did not single out any country for criticism but said in general forces need to stay longer than four to six months, as some nations' troops do.

The U.S. has 160,000 troops in Iraq.