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NATO: No Pause in Afghan Winter Fighting

   VOA News 03 January 2011

   A   balloon   floats   past  Bulgarian  soldiers  with  the  NATO  led
   International  Security  Assistance Force (ISAF) as they celebrate New
   Year's  eve  at the US base of Camp Phoenix in Kabul, Afghanistan, Dec
   31, 2010 (File Photo)

   NATO  said there will be no letup in fighting during the winter months
   in Afghanistan.
   Speaking  Monday, German General Josef Blotz, who is the spokesman for
   NATO'S  International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), said NATO will
   maintain  pressure  on  the  Taliban  during  the  winter  months when
   fighting traditionally eases in Afghanistan. Â
   Blotz said a recent upturn in violence was expected and is a sign that
   ISAF  troops  are  going  on  the offensive against the Taliban in its
   strongholds of Helmand and Kandahar provinces.
   The  NATO  spokesman also said limited troop withdrawals will begin in
   2011  and that some responsibility for security will be transferred to
   Afghan forces. Â
   Earlier  Monday,  Afghan officials said a bomb blast at a butcher shop
   killed  one  person  and  wounded  five  others in the western city of
   Herat.  The  Associated  Press  reports the blast was caused by a bomb
   placed outside a butcher shop that supplies meat to the Afghan army. A
   spokesman  for  the  Taliban  claimed responsibility for the attack on
   Monday.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.
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