US president says Afghan strategy working

03/07/2008 10:14:49

The United States president, George W Bush, says he's considering whether to send more American troops to Afghanistan.

Last month 49 NATO and US led coalition soldiers died, the highest fatality figure since the 2001 ouster of the Taliban militia.

International casualties in Afghanistan outstripped those in Iraq for the second month in a row.

President Bush has acknowledged it's been a tough month in the country, and says he's weighing whether to send more US troops.

"One reason why there have been more deaths is because our troops are taking the fight to a tough enemy," he said.

"And you know that means they don't like our presence there because they don't like the idea of America denying safe haven and so of course there's going to be resistance."

The US has about 31,000 troops in Afghanistan and has told its NATO allies it'll send more next year.

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