Spanish interior minister admits problems in Afghanistan

Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said Thursday that "things are not going well" in Afghanistan and a new approach is needed.

Rubalcaba spoke one day after a Spanish soldier was killed when a mine exploded under his vehicle near the town of Herat. It was the 88th death of a Spanish soldier in Afghanistan since Spain first sent troops there in 2003.

"Things are not going well and we need a change of strategy," Rubalcaba said on national television station TVE.

Rubalcaba said the United Nations peacekeeping mission, though dangerous, is not a war and is intended to bring peace to Afghanistan.

"We are working to improve security, as are the troops of all of the countries involved, although we are facing more dangers now than when the mission began in 2003," the minister said.

Source: Xinhua