Visiting Afghanistan's Interior Minister Hanif Atmar said here on Friday that some 10,000 to 15, 000 Taliban militants are operating in up to 17 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces in the country.
Apart from many Afghans who were recruited for economic reasons, most of the insurgents were foreigners operating with Al-Qaida or Central Asian extremist groups, Atmar told reporters.
Atmar, who is here for a three-way dialogue with the United States and Pakistan on a new "war on terror" strategy, denied the saying that insurgents are rampant. "Terrorist attacks do not represent their strength but indeed their weakness," the minister said.
U.S. President Barack Obama, who vowed to beef up effort to battle against extremism in Afghanistan, has authorized a 17,000 troop increase for war in the country., Xinhua reported.