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Petraeus: More winter combat in Afghanistan

LONDON — Gen. David Petraeus warned Monday that combat in Afghanistan could intensify in the coming months as the United States and NATO allies aggressively take on Taliban fighters attempting to hide and gather strength in the rugged terrain over winter.

After talks in London with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Petraeus said more troops are needed in Afghanistan, where a rising number of extremist attacks has made this the most violent year since the U.S.-led invasion that ousted the Taliban regime.

“I think we will see a continuation of fighting through the winter season, perhaps a bit more than we have seen in the past,” he said.

U.S. commanders are expecting to do more fighting this winter because officials discovered, after the fact, that the Taliban last winter managed to find safe haven inside Afghanistan. It put them in a better than anticipated position to carry out attacks in the spring. This time, the U.S. wants to be more aggressive in ferreting out the Taliban before the militants have a chance to regroup.

The remarks come only days after Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the Pentagon could send more combat troops to Afghanistan starting in the spring — even though he cautioned against a military buildup in a country that has often repelled outside invaders.

Petraeus, who is widely credited with quelling insurgency in Iraq as the architect of the so-called troop “surge,” declined to say whether he believed Britain should send additional personnel to Afghanistan. Britain has around 8,000 soldiers there, mostly based in the violent southern Afghan province Helmand.

“This is a job for the NATO authorities, for the greater coalition and for national authorities,” Petraeus said, after his talks with Brown, Defense Secretary Des Browne and the head of Britain’s armed forces, Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup.

Petraeus has recently been appointed as the new commander of U.S. Central Command, with responsibilities across the Middle East, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and other Central Asian nations.

Petraeus, who takes a new posting as the overall head of U.S. forces in the Middle East on Oct. 31, said that the U.S. and other allies must support Pakistan in rooting out militancy.

“They clearly have a threat, the nature of which and the importance of which is increasingly being recognized in Islamabad,” Petraeus said. “This is in a sense an existential threat, a threat to Pakistan’s very existence.”