NATO: No Pause in Afghan Winter Fighting

NATO says there will be no letup in fighting during the winter months in Afghanistan.
Speaking Monday, German General Josef Blotz, who is the spokesman for NATO’S International Security Assistance Force , said NATO will maintain pressure on the Taliban during the winter months when fighting traditionally eases in Afghanistan.
Blotz said a recent upturn in violence is expected and is a sign that ISAF troops are putting pressure on the Taliban in its strongholds of Helmand and Kandahar provinces.
The NATO spokesman also said limited troop withdrawals will begin in 2011 and that some responsibility for security will be transferred to Afghan forces.
Earlier Monday, Afghan officials said a bomb blast at a butcher shop killed one person and wounded five others in the western city of Herat.
The Associated Press reports the blast was caused by a bomb placed outside a butcher shop that supplies meat to the Afghan army. A spokesman for the Taliban claimed responsibility for that attack.
ISAF on Monday also condemned what it called an insurgent attack on a mosque in Baghlan province on Sunday. Two men entered a mosque and began shooting worshippers, killing four people and wounding two others.