Security remains elusive in Afghanistan, says UK think tank London Oct.19 (ANI) A British foreign policy think-tank says that international forces have failed to bring satisfactory security to Afghanistan. The Chatham House report says that they lack a coherent strategy. According to the BBC, the report says that NATO and US forces need a strategy which integrates the fight against Taleban insurgents with reconstruction efforts. It also highlights Pakistan as a significant arms source and recruitment base for the insurgents. The report says that as long as Pakistan remains a safe haven for the Taleban and al-Qaeda, international forces will not be able to control Afghanistan. The report's revelations have surfaced even as a foreign news agency quoted Afghan Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak as saying in Washington that suicide bombings in Afghanistan were up 50 percent from a year ago and that the Afghan army needed more troops and equipment. "We have achieved a great deal with limited manpower and old weapons and equipment. Imagine what we could do with better equipment and additional help," Wardak said after meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates at the Pentagon. Despite six years of war in Afghanistan, the Taliban regained strength in 2006 and has ramped up attacks on U.S., Afghan and NATO forces this year. NATO forces also have begun to intercept convoys of bomb technology coming into Afghanistan from Iran, according to NATO and U.S. military officials. Wardak called the past two years "the most difficult and challenging since 2001." The Taliban government was overthrown that year by Afghan and U.S.-led forces. That rising violence comes as NATO commanders say they still face shortages in troops, trainers, helicopters and other equipment needed to fight the war.
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