More foreign fighters in Afghanistan insurgency: US commander

0 Comments | AFP, July, 2007

KABUL (AFP) — Insurgents in Afghanistan are fighting harder and there are more foreign extremists in the battlefield, the top international commander in the country told AFP.

But there is no evidence to link the inflow of foreign "jihadists" to elements in Iran and in Iraq that may want to stir things up here, said US General Dan McNeill, head of NATO's International Security Assistance Force.

"For some number of weeks now I have watched with interest the increased number of foreign fighters that we have seen on the battlefield opposing us but I can't connect that to Iraq yet," he said in an interview Sunday.

There have been claims that battle-hardened fighters in Iraq are influencing the Taliban-led insurgency in Afghanistan where rebel tactics, such as...