WASHINGTON: Even with an additional 17,000 troops in Afghanistan, the top US commander there predicted "a tough year" in 2009 and said the fight against insurgents would require a major commitment of up to four years.General David McKiernan, who commands US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, spoke a day after President Barack Obama approved the deployment in coming months of 17,000 troops, increasing the current US force by about 50 percent."Even with these additional forces, I have to tell you, 2009 is going to be a tough year," McKiernan told reporters at the Pentagon."But we do see, with these additional forces, an opportunity to break this stalemate, at least in terms of security conditions in the south," he said.The general said NATO troops were training Afghan military and police but that it would take up to four years before the international force could hand over to the Afghans and have them take a leading role."For the next three to four years, I think we're going to need to stay heavily committed and sustain in a sustained manner in Afghanistan," McKiernan said.He said it was likely violence would rise initially in territory where US forces set up outposts for the first time.The extra troops would be in place by the height of the fighting season this summer and before Afghanistan's national elections August 20, he said.S troops were working with Afghan and Pakistan authorities to tighten control over the country's porous border that has served as a haven for insurgents and Al-Qaeda, McKiernan said. But he added his forces could use more hi-tech reconnaissance, a coveted resource that is subject to competing demands from US troops in Iraq.Echoing a theme from President Barack Obama and military officials, McKiernan said that improving security would allow other development efforts to go ahead and that the conflict could not be solved by military means alone.
Friday, August 14, 2009 MUMBAI: A 26-year-old woman died Thursday of H1N1 swine flu in the southern city of Bangalore, raising India's death toll from the virus to 20, authorities said.The death was the first reported in India's information technology capital, the Press Trust of India reported.Meanwhile in Pune, the worst-affected in India, two more victims of the virus died Thursday, raising the death toll in that western city near Mumbai to 12, the report said. The victims were an 11-month-old boy and a 75-year-old old woman.US media reported movie halls, schools and colleges were ordered closed Thursday for three days to a week in Mumbai, the commercial and financial capital of the country, as fear of the pandemic spread.Prajakata Lavangare, a spokeswoman for the government of Maharashtra state of which Mumbai is the capital, said similar orders were issued in Pune, which is also located in the state.The woman who died in Bangalore was identified only as Roopa, a teacher in
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