Fears of Taliban sanctuary in Afghanistan as fighting escalates
Afghan and Nato officials fear that the vast Farah province, which borders Iran, could become a Taliban sanctuary if the militant threat isn’t quickly crushed.
The warning follows a Nato appeal for more troops to be sent to combat the Taliban.
Although Poland announced that it will send at least 900 more troops to Afghanistan by early next year, Nato officials said the deployment was part of a planned force rotation and would not alleviate the alliance’s need for more troops.
Defence Minister Radoslaw Sikorski told Polish journalists at an event in Washington yesterday that, “as of February next year, over 1,000 Polish soldiers are going to be serving in Afghanistan”.
But a Nato official said the Polish deployment was routine and had been arranged before the alliance’s urgent appeal for an additional 2,500 troops to bolster forces in embattled southern Afghanistan.
Nato Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer welcomed the announcement, calling it a “very important step” in the alliance’s operations in Afghanistan.
Up to 200 Taliban in dozens of pick-up trucks poured into the Farah town of Bakwa yesterday morning, surrounding a police compound and firing rocket-propelled grenades at policemen, said Major General Sayed Agha Saqeb, the provincial police chief.
Taliban fighters took over the compound for an hour before police reinforcements drove them off into the desert. Two militants were killed and two wounded, while two police also died and two were wounded, Mr Saqeb said.
“If there is the possibility of some sort of security deterioration in the area we will get onto it very quickly,” Nato spokesman Major Toby Jackman said.
The additional Polish forces are part of a mechanised battalion that will be stationed at the Bagram air base, where Poland already has 100 soldiers, Mr Sikorski said.
“We are going to take part in operations primarily in the eastern part of Afghanistan,” he said.
Poland had long planned to beef up its contribution to Nato forces in Afghanistan. But Mr Sikorski’s announcement speeds up the deployment timetable to February from July, as previously planned. It also nails down the number at 900 soldiers and establishes the troops in eastern Afghanistan, a defence ministry spokesman said.
In Brussels, Mr de Hoop Scheffer said talks were continuing on deploying the Polish troops even earlier than February.
“If the Poles come, that would of course free up other forces,” he said.
Nato officials have acknowledged that an earlier deployment could prove difficult, given Poland’s commitments in Iraq.
In addition, Warsaw has budget concerns. Poland has already earmarked €74 million in its 2007 budget for the Afghan mission, but if it were to deploy any earlier, additional funds would be needed.
