Top US commander says more troops needed in Afghanistan

Gen. John Nicholson didn't provide the Senate Armed Services Committee with an exact number of additional forces, but said they could come from the United States or other countries in the American-led coalition in Afghanistan, where the war is now in its 16th year.

There are currently about 8,400 U.S. troops conducting counterterrorism operations against insurgents and training the Afghan army.

Nicholson also disclosed that a U.S. special forces soldier was "severely wounded" in fighting Thursday in Sangin, the Taliban heartland in southern Afghanistan.

Nicholson said that because of troop level limits, the aviation brigade that deployed to Afghanistan was able to bring its helicopters, pilots and staff, but had to leave its mechanics behind at Fort Riley in Kansas.

Contractors were hired instead at a cost of "tens of millions of dollars," forcing the soldier mechanics to sit at home, he said, and affecting the Army unit's readiness.

Nicholson contended that Russia has been publicly legitimizing the Taliban by claiming that the militants are fighting Islamic terrorists while the Afghan government is not.