Militants shifting focus, say Afghans

KABUL, Afghanistan - American military successes in Iraq have prompted growing numbers of well-trained "foreign fighters" to join the insurgency in Afghanistan instead, the Afghan defense minister said yesterday.

The minister, General Abdul Rahim Wardak, said at a news conference that the increased flow of insurgents from outside Afghanistan had contributed to the increased intensity of the fighting here this year, which he described as the "worst" since the toppling of the Taliban government by American-led forces in 2001.

The general said that "the success of coalition forces in Iraq" had combined with developments in countries neighboring Afghanistan to cause "a major increase in the number of foreign fighters" coming to Afghanistan. "There is no doubt that they are better equipped than before. They are well trained, more sophisticated, and their coordination is much better."

His reference to neighboring countries appeared to point to Pakistan, where Islamic militants with bases in tribal areas along the border have intensified their operations, both inside Pakistan and in support of the insurgency in Afghanistan. American commanders have said that most of the foreign fighters operating in Afghanistan are Pakistanis or from Muslim countries and communities in Central Asia and the Caucasus, including Chechens.

American commanders have noted that some militant Islamic websites have been encouraging fighters to go to Afghanistan rather than Iraq, where insurgent operations have been sharply reduced in the last 18 months.

The Afghan minister's remarks came on a day when insurgents struck across wide areas of Afghanistan, including committing a drive-by assassination in Kandahar. Also yesterday, NATO command said three coalition soldiers were killed in eastern Afghanistan when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb.