US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has blamed the Taliban’s revival on a past failure to deploy enough troops to Afghanistan.
He claimed US forces would not withdraw whatever the result of President Barack Obama’s strategy review.
'We are not leaving Afghanistan. This discussion is about next steps forward and the president has some momentous decisions to make,' Mr Gates said.
Mr Obama faces pivotal decisions after the top US and NATO commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, presented a grim assessment of the eight-year war.
Eight US soldiers were killed last Saturday when tribal militia stormed two combat outposts in eastern Afghanistan - the worst single US loss in more than a year.
The administration is debating whether to send up to 40,000 more troops, or scale back the mission and focus on striking al-Qaeda cells, an idea backed by Vice President Joe Biden.
Meanwhile, a British soldier was killed yesterday in an explosion while on patrol in southern Afghanistan, the British Ministry of Defence has confirmed.
The soldier was killed Monday on a foot patrol in the Nad Ali area of Helmand Province.
Ten Afghan army soldiers were killed and more than 100 Taliban militants died or were wounded in clashes in southern and eastern Afghanistan in the last few days, the defense ministry there said.
'Ten members of the Afghan army were martyred and more than 100 enemies were killed and wounded in the south and east of the country in the past 24 hours,' a statement said.
Defence ministry spokesman Mohammad Zahir Azimi said the casualties were from two operations in southern Helmand province and eastern Nuristan.
