NATO: No Pause in Afghan Winter Fighting
VOA News 03 January 2011
NATO said there will be no letup in fighting during the winter months in Afghanistan.
Speaking Monday, German General Josef Blotz, who is the spokesman for NATO'S International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), said NATO will maintain pressure on the Taliban during the winter months when fighting traditionally eases in Afghanistan.
Blotz said a recent upturn in violence was expected and is a sign that ISAF troops are going on the offensive against the Taliban in its strongholds of Helmand and Kandahar provinces.
The NATO spokesman also said limited troop withdrawals will begin in 2011 and that some responsibility for security will be transferred to Afghan forces.
Earlier Monday, Afghan officials said a bomb blast at a butcher shop killed one person and wounded five others in the western city of Herat. The Associated Press reports the blast was caused by a bomb placed outside a butcher shop that supplies meat to the Afghan army. A spokesman for the Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack on Monday.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.
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