Afghanistan welcomes US deployment plans

Afghanistan welcomed Pentagon plans to send an additional 3,000 U.S. Marines to the country's volatile south in April, although it said Thursday the long-term solution is to bolster Afghan forces.

Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammed Zahir Azimi said the deployment — still to be approved by Defense Secretary Robert Gates — would help combat Taliban insurgents. But Azimi added the long-term solution was to boost the fighting strength of Afghanistan's own army.

"Afghan security forces will be the force that will remain in Afghanistan and protect its peace and security, as well as defend the country," Azimi said.

On Wednesday, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said that a proposal set to go before Gates on Friday would send a ground and air Marine contingent and a Marine battalion — totaling more than 3,000 troops — to southern Afghanistan for a "one-time, seven-month deployment."

The U.S. had previously said it would not provide the extra troops.

Many other NATO nations — facing public opposition at home to deeper involvement — have refused to fill the need for as many as 7,500 extra troops that commanders on the ground have asked for.

Afghanistan experienced a record level of violence in 2007, with more than 6,500 people killed, according to an Associated Press count based on figures from Western and Afghan officials.

In the latest violence, a NATO vehicle struck a mine in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing a soldier and wounding another, said Maj. Charles Anthony, a spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force. The nationalities of the soldiers were not disclosed.

Currently, there are about 27,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, including 14,000 with the NATO-led coalition. The other 13,000 U.S. troops are training Afghan forces and hunting al-Qaida terrorists.

Morrell said the Marine ground and air contingent would be put in place to prevent a spring Taliban offensive, and the Marine battalion would likely be used to train Afghan forces.

The U.S. and its allies are stepping up their training of Afghanistan's security forces, with a particular focus on its troubled police force, which is often accused of corruption.

The Afghan army will reach its target of 70,000 troops by the end of 2008, U.S. officials say.