U.S. commander in Afghanistan says recent Taliban gains fleeting --- (Reuters) - Afghan military casualties have spiked in recent weeks amid an increase in Taliban attacks, but the top U.S. commander in the country said on Thursday that rebel gains were fleeting and he was confident Afghan forces could stop them from holding ground. -- "The last couple of weeks, there has been an uptick (in casualties), with the Taliban trying to make a statement as they close out the fighting season," U.S. Army General John Campbell, the commander of international forces, told a Pentagon briefing. -- Campbell, the head of the International Security Assistance Force, did not have an exact tally of Afghan casualties for this year, but said it was in the range of 7,000 to 9,000 killed or wounded. He said the number was slightly higher than in 2013 because of the recent spike in combat in Helmand and elsewhere. -- The ISAF chief downplayed the significance of the surge in attacks. -- "There's nowhere that we have Afghan security forces that the Taliban can get the terrain and hold the terrain," he told -- "The Taliban may take over a district center or something, but only temporarily. Once the ANSF (Afghan National Security Force) understands that piece of it ... they get the terrain back." -- Campbell's remarks via teleconference from Afghanistan came just two days after Afghan and U.S. officials signed a bilateral security agreement that would keep up to 9,800 U.S. troops in the country after the end of the year to advise and support Afghan security forces and carry out counter-terror operations - More, http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/02/us-afghanistan-usa-idUSKCN0HR2EI20141002