General seeks Afghan combat tour extension

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN — The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan said he wanted to extend the combat tours of 1,200 soldiers amid rising violence here, and U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said he was “strongly inclined” to recommend a troop increase to President Bush if commanders thought it was necessary.

Army Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, the senior American commander here, said he had recommended that 1,200 soldiers with the 2nd Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division, be ordered to stay until the end of the year. The battalion is already scheduled to deploy to Iraq later this year, an illustration of how stretched U.S. forces are.

Early today, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization announced that its troops and Afghan forces had detained a prominent Taliban commander during a raid in Helmand province. It did not name him.

The operation came a day after Afghan intelligence agents reported the arrest of Mohammed Hanif as he crossed the border from Pakistan. Hanif is a purported Taliban spokesman who often contacted journalists.