MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

US top commander admits insurgency is winning in Afghanistan

General McChrystal wants 40.000 more troops

Success in the struggle against the Taliban cannot be taken for granted and time is running out, the commander of the international forces in Afghanistan has warned. US General Stanley McChrystal said the situation in the country was “serious” - and in some respects deteriorating - with increasing violence and a growing insurgency.

Speaking in London, he said the international coalition faced a “problem” unless it was able properly to align the resources it was prepared to commit to the conflict with the goals it was trying to achieve.

The US administration of President Barack Obama is currently evaluating Gen McChrystal's plan to overhaul the international strategy in Afghanistan, including a request for up 40,000 additional troops. Meanwhile, Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth said that he would only commit more British troops to the conflict if he could be sure that they would have all the equipment they needed for the task.

In his speech to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Gen McChrystal reiterated his warning in his report - leaked last month to the US media - that there was only limited time to turn around the situation.

“The situation is serious and I choose that word very, very carefully,” he said.

“Neither success nor failure in our endeavour in support of the Afghan people and government can be taken for granted. My best assessment is that the situation is in some ways deteriorating,” he said.

“Violence is up and it is not only because there are more coalition forces. It is up because the insurgency has grown. We need to reverse the current trends and time does matter. Waiting does not prolong a favourable outcome. This effort will not remain winnable indefinitely. Public support will not last indefinitely.”

Downing Street said later that Gordon Brown and Gen McChrystal had both agreed on the need for further “Afghanisation” during a meeting at Number 10.

A spokesman said: ”The Prime Minister had a good discussion with General McChrystal this evening, building on the meeting they had in Afghanistan on 29 August. They discussed the General's strategic assessment of the campaign where there was agreement that the mission was at a vital stage. On next steps, they agreed that further 'Afghanisation', including accelerated training of Afghan army and police, needed to be at the centre of Nato's counter-insurgency efforts.