KABUL - The Afghan government and its international partners agreed Wednesday to significantly increase the country's security forces and outlined plans to lure Taliban militants from the fight and combat corruption in a bid to turn the tide of the war.
A joint panel of officials from Afghanistan, the UN and troop-contributing nations approved plans to train more than 100,000 more security forces by the end of next year. The decision comes ahead of a Jan. 28 conference in London, which is aimed at boosting international support for Afghanistan in the face of a resurgent Taliban and complaints about runaway corruption in President Hamid Karzai's government.
The London conference will endorse the decisions and solicit international funding for the programs, UN spokesman Aleem Siddique said.
Officials said the Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board agreed to increase the size of the Afghan National Army from the current figure of about 97,000 to 171,600 by the end of next year. The Afghan National Police will be boosted from about 94,000 today to 134,000.
The board set a long-term goal of expanding the Afghan security force to 240,000 soldiers and 160,000 police within five years if conditions require. Officials said that figure may not be necessary if the U.S.-led campaign against the Taliban succeeds in crippling the insurgency.
Afghan Defense Minister Rahim Wardak said he believed the proposed 400,000-strong security force -- including army and police -- was "the minimum requirement" for Afghanistan but that the country's international partners were concerned over how to pay for such a large force and sustain it after the U.S. and its allies leave.
President Barack Obama's administration believes the key to stability in Afghanistan is a strong national security force that can protect the country and allow U.S. and other foreign troops to go home. Obama has said he plans to begin withdrawing forces in July 2011 if conditions permit.
In the meantime, the United States and NATO are sending about 37,000 reinforcements to Afghanistan to try to reverse the rise of the Taliban, which the U.S. and its Afghan partners drove from power in 2001.
U.S. officials have said the military effort cannot succeed without major reforms in the weak and corrupt Afghan government.
During the Wednesday meeting, former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani, who finished fourth in the August presidential election, submitted a report outlining steps to combat corruption, which international officials believe has been driving Afghans into the Taliban ranks. The plan included establishing an office in each ministry to deal with corruption.
In a report released Tuesday, the UN said half of all Afghan adults paid at least one bribe to a public official over the course of a year to cut through red tape or get help with poor service. The report said the total bribes during that period came to nearly $2.5 billion -- worth almost a quarter of the country's GDP.
Finance Minister Omar Zakhilwal sharply criticized the UN report, saying the figures were exaggerated and compiled without government input.
"It was made up of lies," he told reporters at a news conference. "We accept that there is corruption, but we have come a long way."
The joint board also approved broad outlines of a plan to lure Taliban fighters away from the insurgency with economic incentives and help them reintegrate into Afghan society. Details of the plan are to be finalized by this spring.
The plan also provides for calling a Grand Peace Council, including representatives of the Taliban and other insurgent groups willing to renounce violence, to discuss the future of the nation ravaged by decades of war.
"The government will provide the Taliban and other insurgent groups who wish to respect the constitution a dignified way to renounce violence and peacefully reintegrate into their communities and separate themselves from their past," the draft report said.
"The rank-and-file Taliban are not al Qaeda. They are our neighbors and cousins, and to achieve peace we need only remove their reason to fight," the document said. "As victory will not be achieved on the battlefield alone, but in the hearts and minds of our citizens, no effort can be spared to eliminate the civilian casualties that strengthen the enemy and rally support for their case."
The draft also offers "key leaders of the Taliban movement" an opportunity for amnesty and reintegration, according to a copy obtained by The Associated Press.
On Monday, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said a process of reconciliation and reintegration of Taliban fighters is essential to success in Afghanistan. But Gates said he doubts Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar will ever make peace with the elected Afghan government.
