Foreigners 'pouring into Afghanistan to support Taliban'

Afghanistan’s defence minister said today that thousands of foreign fighters have poured into the country to bolster the Taliban insurgency, as he called for more international troops.

The minister’s comments hit on a key worry of the Britain and the United States - that not sending enough troops to Afghanistan will open the door back up to al-Qaida.

They also suggest that the Afghan government is nervous about the US commitment amid talk of changing the strategy and a surge in violence in recent months.

“The enemy has changed. Their number has increased,” Defence Minister General Abdul Rahim Wardak told lawmakers in a speech.

He said about 4,000 fighters, mostly from Chechnya, North Africa and Pakistan “have joined with them and they are involved in the fighting in Afghanistan”.

He gave no timeframe for the supposed increase in foreign fighters.