Troop surge will 'reverse' Taliban momentum: US commander

A surge of US troops into Afghanistan will allow NATO-led forces to "reverse insurgent momentum" and isolate the Taliban, the commander of the allied mission said on Tuesday.

A surge of US troops into Afghanistan will allow NATO-led forces to "reverse insurgent momentum" and isolate the Taliban, the commander of the allied mission said on Tuesday.

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The additional troops ordered by President Barack Obama will bolster efforts to train Afghan forces and show Afghans that "not only that we want to protect them -- but that we can," General Stanley McChrystal told a congressional hearing in prepared remarks.

The 30,000 US reinforcements "will provide us the ability to reverse insurgent momentum and deny the Taliban the access to the population they require to survive," said McChrystal, the commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan.