Nato calls for 'civilian surge' in Afghanistan‎

NATO calls on international institutions and an Afghan "civilian surge" to boost reconstruction efforts and help spread democracy in Afghanistan. 

Ahead of the elections on Aug. 20, alliance Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer on Thursday called on international institutions like the United Nations and the European Union, to help provide "more development, more support for governance and more institution building." 

Warning of the price of failure in Afghanistan, where NATO has undertaken its biggest and most challenging mission ever, he said that the coalition is still battling to defeat a Taliban-led insurgency. 

Talking to reporters in Krakow, southern Poland, after chairing informal talks between NATO defense ministers, he said that although the EU is training the Afghan police, other than providing eight million euros over a period of nine years (2001-09), it is not only a matter of more forces in Afghanistan, "we need an equal civilian surge as well," AFP quoted him as saying. 

US President Barack Obama on Feb. 18 approved the deployment of 17,000 more US troops to Afghanistan, in response to a request by the US commander in Afghanistan, General David McKiernan, who had asked for 30,000. 

Pointing to the upcoming Afghan elections, Hoop Scheffer said that these elections will be a real test to see if NATO's efforts to help spread security and democracy in Afghanistan have been of any success. He added that the coming months they (NATO) could face a much bigger problem, which would pose disturbing questions about their future there. 

The Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, faces a "constitutional crisis" as his mandate runs out in May and his government is accused of rampant corruption.

US: Allies should do more in Afghanistan

The US administration has requested its NATO allies to beef up the number of their troops in Afghanistan prior to the country's elections. 

"The administration is prepared ... to make additional commitments to Afghanistan, but there clearly will be expectations that the allies must do more as well," said US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates on Wednesday. 

He added that the response to the US request has so far been 'frankly disappointing'. 

The US appeal comes while US President Barack Obama authorized the deployment of 17,000 more forces to Afghanistan. This will bring the number of US forces to 55,000 in the war-torn country. 

Obama has ordered a senior-level Afghanistan strategy review. 

"This increase is necessary to stabilize a deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, which has not received the strategic attention, direction, and resources it urgently requires," Obama said in a written statement. 

Gates speaking to reporters on his way to Krakow, Poland for a meeting of NATO defense ministers, said the surge is needed to help provide security for the country's presidential and provincial elections, scheduled for August. 

He expressed disappointment over the commitment of NATO allies, noting that in the long term the allies are more likely to provide civilian help to the Afghan government than additional troops. 

According to the US Secretary of Defense, the dispatch of military units to Afghanistan will result in a reduction of the US troop presence in Iraq, because some of the units being sent to Afghanistan had been scheduled for Iraq deployment.

US sending 17,000 more troops to Afghanistan

US President Barack Obama has authorized the deployment of 17,000 additional troops to Afghanistan, according to the White House. 

"The decision was communicated to the Pentagon yesterday. The orders were signed today," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters on Tuesday. 

The 17,000 includes troops and support personnel, Reuters reported. 

"This increase is necessary to stabilize a deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, which has not received the strategic attention, direction, and resources it urgently requires," Obama said in a written statement. 

The deployment of new troops is the first major military decision of the Obama administration. 

During the election campaign, Obama had said that he would redeploy troops based in Iraq to Afghanistan, which would be a major shift of focus to Central Asia. 

The White House said the troops would deploy to Afghanistan ahead of the Afghan national elections scheduled for August 20, significantly building up the 38,000 US forces battling the spreading insurgency. 

They include 8,000 marines in the marine expeditionary brigade, 4,000 troops in the army Stryker brigade, and 5,000 support troops.

Australian troops kill 5 Afghan children

The Australian troops have shot dead at least five children in a deadly shootout in the troubled southern Afghanistan, the military says. 

The incident happened on Thursday in Uruzgan province, where Australia's special forces were clearing a number of houses in the hunt for insurgents. 

Australia says it is investigating the incident. 

"Current reporting indicates that those killed include a suspected insurgent and, sadly, local nationals including five children killed, and two children and two adults injured," The Australian defense department said in an official statement on Friday. 

Australia's military has about 1,100 soldiers in Afghanistan, based mainly in Uruzgan province. 

The rising number of civilians killed by US-led troops in the war-torn country has drawn the ire of the Afghans, rising anti-American sentiment in the country. 

Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai has also repeatedly lashed out at the US-led forces in his country over their 'unbearable attitude' toward public and local culture and their disregard for civilian lives. 

Human Rights campaigners say that the 70,000-strong US-led western troops have been understating the true figures of civilian casualties in official reports, in a bid to avoid inflaming the already-widespread opposition to foreign deployment. 

Civilian casualties have been the subject of a growing controversy, raising questions over the presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan. 

The US and its western allies invaded Afghanistan to topple the Taliban regime and after the September 11, 2001 terror attacks.