Biden, in Afghan visit, says U.S. support will continue

KABUL, Afghanistan - Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. pledged long-term American support for Afghanistan during a visit yesterday, and the commander of NATO-led forces told him that thousands of new American troops expected this year will need more support against surging Taliban violence.

President-elect Barack Obama has promised to end the war in Iraq and refocus American military efforts on Afghanistan. Biden's visit is a sign that Obama plans to make the region an immediate priority.

In a meeting with President Hamid Karzai, Biden "talked about . . . the fight against terrorism, American troop increases as well as equipping and supplying of the Afghan forces," a statement from Karzai's office said, without providing any details.

Earlier, the top U.S. general in Afghanistan, David McKiernan, spoke to Biden about lending more support to the troops.

About 32,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan serve alongside 32,000 other NATO-led and coalition troops, the highest number since the invasion to oust the Taliban from power began in 2001.

The United States is rushing as many as 30,000 troops to Afghanistan, and some will go to its volatile southern provinces to combat the spiraling violence.

"Gen. McKiernan explained the current situation and talked about the incoming troops and the need for additional enablers . . . things like helicopters, engineers, military police, transportation assets," said Col. Greg Julian, a U.S. military spokesman.

Southern Afghanistan has become the center of the Taliban-led insurgency, which left 6,400 people - mostly militants - dead in 2008 alone.

Foreign and Afghan troops are the target of daily roadside bombings and suicide attacks. In 2008, 151 American troops died in the country, more than in any other year since 2001.

Obama has called Afghanistan an "urgent crisis," saying it's time to heed the call from U.S. commanders for significantly more U.S. troops.

Biden also discussed Afghanistan's priorities with the United Nations' top representative for the country, Kai Eide, U.N. spokesman Adrian Edwards said.

"Their meeting touched on security, political and developmental issues, including donor coordination, police reform and regional cooperation," Edwards said.

Biden's visit to Afghanistan follows his trip to neighboring Pakistan, where aides said he met with President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, and Shah Mehmood Qureshi, the foreign minister.

Biden's tour comes after five U.S. soldiers were killed in two attacks in southern Afghanistan, and as U.S. officials warned the violence would likely intensify this year.