18,000 more troops in Afghanistan by spring: Pentagon
Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the US military's joint chiefs of staff, said that the Taliban now has a growing influence in most of Afghanistan's provinces.
The Pentagon said on Tuesday it expected about 18,000 of the 30,000 additional US troops authorised by president Barack Obama to arrive in Afghanistan by late spring, a slower pace than initially announced by the White House.Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the US military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a congressional committee that the Taliban has moved well beyond southern strongholds and now has a growing influence in most of Afghanistan's provinces.