Afghanistan: More 'people friendly', more attack helicopters

washingtonpost:Nato will double the number of soldiers in southern Afghanistan when it takes over security there from U.S. troops next month, seeking to quash the worst rebel violence since the Taliban's ouster, the NATO force commander said Sunday.

Lt. Gen. David Richards also said NATO troops will be more "people friendly" in an effort to win the support of the local population amid rising resentment over what many Afghans see as overly aggressive tactics by the separate U.S.-led coalition force.

There was no letup in the fighting in the south, meanwhile. More than two dozen people died in weekend violence, including four in a failed attempt to blow up the governor of Kandahar province, the birthplace of the Taliban religious militia.

At a news conference in Kabul, Richards said the number of troops that the U.S.-led coalition has had in southern Afghanistan hasn't been sufficient to deal with the surge in violence.

"They have been relatively short of troops, of boots on the ground," said Richards, a British soldier who assumed command of NATO's International Security Assistance Force a month ago.

He said the number of troops in the region will increase from an average of about 3,000 in recent years to about 6,000 when NATO takes on responsibility for the volatile region in July. He said the new force also will have more attack helicopters. Read more