US advised to send even more troops to Afghanistan

The new commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan asks Washington to dispatch thousands of additional US troops in the face of increasing Taliban insurgency in the war-torn country.

General Stanley McChrystal, who took command last month, said in a review that "thousands more US advisors and personnel" were required to curb the Taliban-linked insurgency, the Washington Post reported.

US President Barack Obama has already deployed a new wave of 21,000 US soldiers in several southern and eastern insurgency-hit provinces where foreign troops have lost several areas to the Taliban.

Obama has identified the conflict in Afghanistan as the largest national security threat facing the US and its allies.

Taliban strongholds have been a regular scene of heavy fighting against foreign-backed government forces even though some 90,000 US-led troops have been struggling to defeat the insurgents.

Taliban-linked militants have killed dozens of US-led troops across the volatile country during the past ten days.

British Defense Secretary Bob Ainsworth on Wednesday predicted that more NATO troops would be killed in Afghanistan, describing the current situation in the country as serious.

Fifteen UK soldiers have died within the past 10 days in southern Afghanistan.

Top US commander General David Petraeus says that forces stationed in Afghanistan will face 'tough fighting' with Taliban militants even beyond 2009.

McChrystal has also informed US Defense Secretary Robert Gates of his support for more Afghan forces during discussions this week.

The top commander also demanded US authorities to "spend billions more than the 7.5 billion dollars per year" that it now has budgeted for the Afghanistan war.

The Afghan war has already inflicted serious damage to the US economy and has brought poverty to many who reside in Afghanistan.