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"Our war preparations, especially in southern Afghanistan and in Helmand province, are complete and for this our 10,000 fighters are ready to take up arms the moment they are ordered," he said, speaking to Reuters in Afghanistan from a secret location.
During a visit to Italy, which has sent 1,900 troops to Afghanistan, Karzai said no such offensive could take place without foreign support.
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"As for the so-called spring offensive by the Taliban, if there is no support for them from external sources, if they don't have the use of bases and sanctuaries outside Afghanistan not only will an offensive not be possible, but the activities terrorizing the population will not take place," Karzai said.
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Washington has contributed more than half of the roughly 45,000 foreign soldiers deployed in Afghanistan -- of which 33,000 are part of a NATO force.
Canadian military officials, who have long complained NATO did not have enough troops in the south of the country, said on Friday the
force levels were now adequate."The United States is putting in more forces, Britain is putting in more forces. We have sufficient force structure on the ground in the south at this moment to do the job that we have to do," said General Rick Hillier, chief of Canada's defense staff.
Insurgents have already resumed attacks, mainly in the south, where they have captured a major town and threatened a key hydroelectric dam.
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070216/ts_nm/afghan_taliban_dcKarzai taking a swipe at Mushariff or the Paki ISI ?