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U.S. to Pursue Stability in Afghanistan
Wednesday, October 9, 2002
By Matt Kelley
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON
The U.S. military plans to step up operations in Afghanistan aimed at supporting the country's interim government, a top Pentagon official said Tuesday.

Combat operations to hunt down Taliban and al-Qaida holdouts will continue, said Douglas Feith, undersecretary for policy in the Defense Department. In other areas, American troops will intensify their work to help rebuild Afghanistan after two decades of war, Feith said.

Those projects include building roads and training Afghan military and police forces, he said. A year into the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan, some hostile forces remain, Feith said.

"The security situation in Afghanistan right now is, I would say, uneven," Feith told a group of journalists. Most of the problems are concentrated in the south and east of the country, he said.

Still, the United States has accomplished its goal to "make al-Qaida go on the defensive rather than remain on the offensive," Feith said.
(NewsOK.com News Source)
2002 © The Associated Press.

Dan