Karzai welcomes US-Afghan timeline

President Hamid Karzai yesterday welcomed a US decision to send 30,000 extra troops to Afghanistan and set a timeline to bring forces home, as the Taliban militia vowed to escalate their eight-year war.

Kabul has long called for the deployment of more than the 113,000 Nato and US troops currently trying to crush an insurgency that is at its deadliest and most widespread since US-led troops ousted the Taliban regime in 2001.

Mr Obama vowed the 30,000-strong surge would see troops in Afghanistan "seize the initiative" to end the unpopular war and start a pull-out in July 2011.

An embattled Karzai, who is under massive Western pressure to root out corruption after a disastrous August re-election steeped in fraud, welcomed the new US commitment and vowed to shoulder more of the security burden.

Afghanistan "hopes that the increase in US troops will help further protect Afghan people and enhance security in the country," said his office.

"Afghanistan believes that setting a timetable for the reduction of US forces will pave the way for the growth of the Afghan security forces and the eventual self-reliance we seek," it added.

Mr Karzai has made taking responsibility for the country's security quagmire a major objective of his next five years in office.

Afghanistan wants Pakistan to better seal its porous mountain border and to clamp down on Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants holed up on Pakistani soil and accused of directing attacks on Afghan and Western troops.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stepped up pressure on Mr Karzai to root out corrupt officials, saying Washington will pursue "real concerns about the influence of corrupt officials" in the government.