NATO troops in Afghanistan |
The call of American defence secretary Robert Gates for more NATO members to share the military burden in Afghanistan has highlighted the difficulties of fighting insurgents in that country's volatile south. According to US intelligence the Afghan president Hamid Karzai controls only 30 percent of Afghanistan, with the Taleban holding 10 percent.
Most of the country is under local tribal control. But building support among the tribes is now at the core of a new American counter-insurgency strategy, honed by experience in Iraq. The Americans believe they've got a blueprint for winning hearts and minds.
The BBC's Alistair Leithead has been following US troops and their British allies in Afghanistan to find out how it is working
First broadcast March 2008
Listen to the programme
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