Brig.-Gen. Denis Thompson, shown in July, says NATO troops aim to increase security for Afghans in contested territory. (Alexander Panetta/Canadian Press)While insurgents have stepped up their attacks in Afghanistan over the summer, a strengthened Afghan army will help NATO troops seize more Taliban-contested territory this winter, the top Canadian soldier in Kandahar province said Friday.

Taliban insurgents typically retreat into remote mountainous areas in the winter months to rest and regroup, Brig.-Gen. Denis Thompson said at a news conference in Kandahar.

But the more experienced Afghan National Army, now numbering around 60,000, is ready to play a large role in denying them their hiding spots, said Thompson, who is commander of NATO troops in volatile Kandahar.

"What we need to do is to keep pushing them back and to challenge the contested ground even more aggressively, and that's what the winter brings us," he said.

Insurgents will not be able to stay out in the colder temperatures as long as NATO and Afghan troops, who would then have a "competitive advantage," said Thompson.

Afghan police will then help hold this contested ground, he said.

Five police stations have already been built in the province, said Canadian diplomat Elissa Golberg, also at the news conference.

Eight police stations will be built in the province over the next few months, she told reporters.

Shift in Taliban tactics

NATO forces are also adapting to a change in Taliban strategy in recent months that has seen them abandoning traditional fighting to focus on assassinations, suicide bombings, and improvised explosive device (IED) attacks, said Thompson.

The tactics now used by the Taliban involve "predominantly IED strikes and intimidation tactics meant at driving the perception of security down, but not necessarily gaining the insurgency any more terrain," said Thompson.

Thompson's comments come a day after a deadly Taliban suicide bombing inside an Afghan ministry building in Kabul left five people dead and at least 12 wounded.

Despite an increase in insurgent bombings over the past few months, Thompson said, "many of their mid- and senior-level commanders were neutralized, including several key IED experts."

Six additional Chinook helicopters recently purchased by Canada that are expected to be operational by early 2009 will also help in efforts to drive the Taliban from their winter roosts, said Thompson.

Canada has not yet officially taken delivery of the choppers, which will cost a total of $292 million, although it is expected soon.

Canada has about 2,500 troops stationed in Afghanistan, mostly in Kandahar. Since 2002, 98 Canadians have died in Afghanistan.

With files from the Canadian Press