KABUL, Afghanistan — The NATO-led command stressed Sunday that military operations to secure vast areas of Afghanistan would not be delayed by the ouster of its top commander and rising casualties.
To reinforce the message, NATO announced that more than 600 Afghan and international troops were battling al-Qaeda and Taliban forces Sunday in the eastern province of Kunar, which borders Pakistan. Three members of the allied force were killed in the fighting, a military statement said.
NATO and U.S. forces are awaiting the arrival of Gen. David Petraeus, who is taking over as commander from Gen. Stanley McChrystal.
Despite those assurances that the war is on track, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said the U.S.-led operation in the Taliban’s southern stronghold of Kandahar shouldn’t move forward until more Afghan security forces can move into the city.
Sen. Carl Levin said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that there are fewer than 9,000 Afghan troops operating in and around Kandahar, the largest city in the south. U.S. commanders had hoped to finish the Kandahar operation in August but have now acknowledged it will continue into the fall, in part because of public opposition to the increased military activity.
Operations appear to be continuing apace, according to NATO statements.
NATO said “a number of insurgents” have been killed in the Kunar fighting, which the alliance described as an attack against al-Qaeda and Taliban leadership in the area. The statement said fighting was continuing Sunday night.
NATO deaths also are climbing daily. A U.S. service member was killed in a bomb attack in the south, along with two others in the fighting in Kunar. NATO also reported that a service member from the international coalition was killed Sunday during an insurgent attack in southern Afghanistan and that four others died in a roadside bombing in northern Afghanistan.
The Norwegian military said the four were its soldiers.
June has become the deadliest month of the war for NATO troops, with at least 95 killed, 56 of them American. For U.S. troops, the deadliest month was last October, with 59 dead.
Brig. Gen. Josef Blotz, a NATO spokesman, said the deaths show that the fight is getting harder in Afghanistan but said that does not affect NATO’s resolve.
“We are in the arena. There is no way out now. We have to stay on. We have to fight this campaign,” he said.
