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Special Operations triple in Afghanistan -McChrystal


    BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Special Operations forces in Afghanistan have grown nearly three-fold over the last year and Afghan authorities are increasingly involved in their missions, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan said on Thursday.

    Afghans have singled out secretive Special Operations missions for criticism over civilian casualties, but General Stanley McChrystal said: "Numerically, special operating missions don't produce the big percentage of civilian casualty events."

    Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a NATO conference in Brussels, McChrystal said Special Ops now had "about three times the capacity" in Afghanistan than a year ago.

    He said Afghans were involved to "a much greater degree" in the operations than before.

    In most cases, Afghan forces take part alongside U.S. personnel, and President Hamid Karzai gets "detailed briefings of how we operate, detailed demonstrations," McChrystal said.

    Afghans are "part of the coordinating process" and help decide whether missions go forward, he added.

    McChrystal, citing the growing role of Special Operations forces, said more than 120 Taliban leaders around the country have been captured or killed in the last 90 days alone.

    (Reporting by Adam Entous; Editing by Charles Dick)