WASHINGTON - The US military commanders in Afghanistan are to be allowed to pay Taliban fighters who renounce violence against the government in Kabul, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin has said. The move is included in a defence bill, which President Barack Obama is set to sign. Such payments have already been widely used by US commanders in Iraq, but it is the first time the system is being formally adopted in Afghanistan, he said. President Obama is yet to decide whether to send thousands more troops to Afghanistan. He has said he will not risk their lives unless it is absolutely necessary.