Bush Deploys 3,000 Extra Troops to Afghanistan to Take on Taliban

George Bush said yesterday he had ordered 3,200 extra US troops to Afghanistan in expectation of a spring offensive against a resurgent Taliban and he urged European allies to make a similar effort.

The White House has asked Congress for an additional $11.8bn (£6.1bn) for Afghanistan amid increasing concern about a comeback by the Taliban following a surge in violence last year.

Mr Bush acknowledged yesterday that last year had been the most violent in Afghanistan since the overthrow of the Taliban regime in 2001, but he insisted that the best way of assuring the safety of Americans at home was to keep up the pressure on al-Qaida abroad, whether in Iraq or Afghanistan.

"Our strategy is not to be on the defence, but to go on the offence," he told the American Enterprise Institute. "This spring there is going to be a new offensive in Afghanistan, and it's going to be a Nato offensive. And that's part of our strategy relentless in our pressure." But he also said that America's Nato allies needed to join in. "When there is a need, when our commanders on the ground say to our respective countries we need additional help, our Nato countries must provide it in order to be successful in this mission," he said.

"Allies must lift restrictions on the forces they do provide so Nato commanders have the flexibility they need to defeat the enemy wherever the enemy may make a stand."

The troop increase, which will extend the stay in Afghanistan of some 3,200 soldiers who had previously been scheduled to deploy to Iraq, will bring the number of American soldiers to 27,000.

The extra forces will be used to accelerate training of the Afghan police, and specialised border patrol and drug units, as well as military forces, Mr Bush said. He also announced a number of economic initiatives, including a programme to build some 1,000 new roads.