"The means which is very important to give us more flexibility is helicopters," said Brigadier General Vincent Lafontaine, Chief of Plans for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

It needs "helicopters for medevac (medical evacuation), helicopters for transport," the Kabul-based French officer told reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels during a video-conference.

He pointed to a shortfall in equipment to "counter IEDs" (Improvised Explosive Devices) like roadside bombs that are a weapon of choice of the insurgents.

He said ISAF -- a 33,000-strong contingent of troops drawn from 37 nations -- also needs more "manouevre battalions" because the fledgling Afghan National Army (ANA) is not able to provide cover when ISAF soldiers are redeployed.

"We have not sufficient ANA means to backfill an area when ISAF forces are moving," he said.

Lafontaine also underlined a shortage of Operational Mentor and Liaison Teams (OMLTS) -- international troops who are "embedded in Afghan battalions and help them to train and when necessary conduct operations."

He said the teams were "really, really important," particularly in ensuring a transition under which ISAF hopes the Afghan army will eventually be able to take over security operations.

"The intent is to put the ANA in the lead more and more during the next spring period but for this we need to implement these famous OMLTS," he said.

Asked when the army would be able to stand on its own feet, Lafontaine said: "Because we are under-resourced it will take more time than we initially hoped."

"We think that 70,000 soldiers, in quality and quantity, could be achieved in the beginning of 2009."

General Bismillah Khan, the ANA's chief of staff, has said the army would not be able to operate independently until 2011.

Lafontaine said the army was still in a "transition process" under which it would take over security for civilian-military reconstruction teams helping to rebuild the conflict-torn country.

"The transition process has already started," he said. "But according to the level of capabilities of the ANA, it could not be possible at a large scale before 2009-2010."

ISAF's mandate is to help spread the rule of Afghanistan's weak central government to regions outside Kabul but it has faced a resurgent Taliban, which was ousted from power by a US-led force in 2001 for harbouring Osama bin Laden.

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Taliban 'getting better': Dutch general
Taliban fighters in southern Afghanistan are "getting better and more precise" and are receiving "outside help," the head of the Dutch armed forces said Monday.

"We are noticing that the Taliban are making less mistakes," General Dick Berlijn, whose country has 1,660 troops in Afghanistan, told a news conference.

Taliban fighters in the southern province of Uruzgan are getting "help (and instructions) from abroad which makes them more efficient," he said without giving further details.

He said that the presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan would be vital "for several years to come."

According to Berlijn "armed conflicts have increased" in Uruzgan and he expects the Taliban will try to get another successful attack in before winter.

The situation around the Dutch camp in Deh Rawod is tense with many Taliban fighters in the vicinity.

"We are considering sending some reinforcements," Berlijn said.

Dutch public Radio 1 news reported that sources within the defence ministry said the reinforcements would be around 80 soldiers.

The mandate for the Dutch mission in Afghanistan set to end in August 2008.

The general made no comment about a possible extension of the mandate.