AFP - Economic development in Afghanistan is more important than military action, with the efforts of Taliban rebels unlikely to be the deciding factor, a top US general said.

The Taliban, with their outside sources of income from groups such as Al-Qaeda, have the capacity to continue fighting, said General John Abizaid, head of the US Central Command that covers parts of Africa and the Middle East

But Abizaid said during a short visit to Afghanistan: "I don't believe that any of the fighting that the Taliban is capable of generating will be decisive in and of itself."

"I actually think that we are really in a stage in the campaign where economic activity is more important then military activity," he said.

The rebels had taken heavy casualties and had not "exerted control for any substantial period of time in any major population area."

"Certainly they managed to take some district capitals for short periods of time, but those have been largely media victories and not military victories," he said.

Many in the international community have said that development, particularly in the south, is the best way to win over public support for the new government and marginalize Taliban and other rebels, along with drugs traffickers.

"It's important that the international community stays focused militarily but also ups the ante with regard to economic reconstruction and the difficult work that has to be done to move Afghanistan forward," Abizaid said.

"When there is economic progress, security also moves in a positive direction," he said.

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