'Evidence' some Taliban fighters trained in Iran

KABUL - The commander of NATO and U.S. forces in Afghanistan said yesterday there is "clear evidence" that some Taliban fighters have trained in Iran.

Gen. Stanley McChrystal told reporters in the Afghan capital that Iran, Afghanistan's western neighbor, has generally assisted the Afghan government in fighting the insurgent group.

"There is, however, clear evidence of Iranian activity - in some cases providing weaponry and training to the Taliban - that is inappropriate," he said, adding NATO forces are working to stop both the training and the weapons trafficking.

Last month, McChrystal said there were indications that Taliban were training in Iran, but not very many and not in a way that it appeared to be part of an Iranian government policy. He did not give details at yesterday's news conference on how many people have trained in Iran.

The U.S. command confirmed an American service member was killed yesterday in a small arms attack in southern Afghanistan. May is already the deadliest month this year for U.S. troops with 33 deaths, two more than in February when American, NATO and Afghan forces seized the Taliban stronghold of Marjah in Helmand province.

The month also brought the 1,000th U.S. military death in the Afghan war since it began in 2001 when Marine Cpl. Jacob Leicht was killed Thursday by a roadside bomb in Helmand.

In the north, insurgents detonated a remote-controlled bomb yesterday as a police convoy passed by, killing seven officers in a province previously considered to be relatively safe, said deputy provincial Gov. Shams-ul Rahman.

The attack was the deadliest of a half-dozen separate incidents across the country.

McChrystal stressed to reporters that the Afghanistan fight will extend beyond July 2011, when President Barack Obama plans to start drawing down forces.

In recent meetings with President Hamid Karzai, Obama "reaffirmed the strategic partnership, which is way beyond July 2011," McChrystal said. "I think President Obama's decision to begin the reduction of U.S. forces in 2011 really needs to be viewed in that context."