Improved Tribal Relations Could Aid NATO In Afghanistan

Channel News Asia:

OTTAWA : NATO should borrow lessons from Iraq and work with local tribes in Afghanistan, to improve security there, Major General Marc Lessard, the outgoing Canadian commander of foreign troops in the south of the country, said Saturday.

In an interview with the Canadian daily Globe and Mail, just before handing power to Dutch commander Major General Mart de Kruif, Lessard said better outreach to Afghan tribes and tribal elders "has to be explored."

Despite an upsurge of violence in the country by Taliban forces in recent months, Lessard downplayed the idea of a strengthened insurgency, instead describing the insurgents are "extremely, extremely resilient."

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