Top NATO general says most Taliban to be cleared from Kandahar by December

NATO: Taliban outnumbered around key Afghan town

BRUSSELS — NATO’s top commander for southern Afghanistan says the coalition troops will clear the area around the key southern city of Kandahar by December.

British Maj. Gen. Nick Carter says that 15,000 to 17,000 Afghan security forces and 15,000 international troops have numerical superiority over an estimated 1000 insurgents in and around the city.

The current U.S.-led operation to beef up security in Kandahar, is one of the biggest the alliance has launched in the 9-year war.

Carter said most of the coalition effort were aimed at clearing the Taliban from Kandahar province’s districts of Zhari and Panjwai and along Afghanistan main southern highway that cuts through them.