Washington - The 17,000 extra troops President Barack Obama ordered to Afghanistan will be operational by this summer and in time for the national elections in August, the top commander of US and NATO forces in the country said Wednesday.
But General David McKiernan also told reporters that despite the buildup, the destabilizing and violent situation in Afghanistan is unlikely to be quickly reversed.
"I have to tell you that 2009 is going to be a tough year," McKiernan told reporters at the Pentagon, adding that he expects fighting to increase in the summer.
Vienna - Drug abuse continues to rise in Afghanistan and western Asia, as opium trade remains a problem despite international efforts to curb production, a UN report released on Thursday said.
In its annual report, the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) also warned that African countries were increasingly being used as hubs for trade in chemicals needed for making drugs.
Berlin - The new German special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Bernd Muetzelburg, is expected in Washington for initial discussions ahead of his first trip to the crisis region next week, the German Foreign Ministry confirmed Wednesday.
The former ambassador to India, who was nominated Monday as a special Foreign Office envoy, will meet his US counterpart Richard Holbrooke to discuss international strategy issues.
During his trip to the US he also plans to visit the UN headquarters in New York.
Following these meetings, Muetzelburg is expected to travel to Afghanistan and Pakistan next week, to see for himself the situation on the ground.
Islamabad, Feb. 18 : Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai will visit Islamabad for top-level talks on Thursday, the Pakistan's Foreign Ministry stated on Wednesday.
"I can confirm that Mr. Karzai is coming to Pakistan on a short visit tomorrow (Thursday). Mr. Karzai will meet President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani," foreign ministry spokesman Abdul Basit was quoted by The Dawn, as saying.
Karzai is expected to talk about strengthening diplomatic ties with Islamabad.
London - The deployment of more troops to Afghanistan will in itself not be enough to halt the rapid deterioration in the country's strategic situation, British Liberal politician Paddy Ashdown warned Wednesday.
Ashdown, a former leader of the Liberal Party and United Nations high representative in Bosnia, said that military power alone would not be enough to stabilize the situation.
His remarks coincided with the US announcement of the deployment of 17,000 extra troops in Afghanistan.
Kabul - A police commander for western Afghanistan said Wednesday at least eight civilian women and children were killed in a US attack in the western region, while the US military claimed all those killed were combatants.
Eight men were also killed in the attack against the nomad tents on Monday in the eastern outskirts of Herat city, the capital for the province of the same name, Ekramuddin Yawar, commander for the police forces in the western region said.
Vienna - Drug abuse continues to rise in Afghanistan and western Asia, as opium trade remains a problem despite international efforts to curb production, a UN report released on Thursday said.
Islamabad, Feb. 18 : Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai will visit Islamabad for top-level talks on Thursday, the Pakistan's Foreign Ministry stated on Wednesday.
London - The deployment of more troops to Afghanistan will in itself not be enough to halt the rapid deterioration in the country's strategic situation, British Liberal politician Paddy Ashdown warned Wednesday.
Kabul - A police commander for western Afghanistan said Wednesday at least eight civilian women and children were killed in a US attack in the western region, while the US military claimed all those killed were combatants.
