March 27, 2008	Thursday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 18, 1429

KABUL, March 26: Next month’s Nato summit in Bucharest will see extra pledges of troops to Afghanistan, including in the volatile south, the alliance’s ambassador to Kabul said on Wednesday, refusing to be drawn on numbers.

Commanders of the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force have said they need between 6,000 and 10,000 soldiers to meet a shortfall in the deployment trying to bring security in the face of a Taliban insurgency.

“ISAF will be after Bucharest even stronger in numbers that it is today,” ambassador Maurits Jochems told reporters.

“Will we have enough or more troops in the south? The answer is yes,” he said.

Jochems could not provide details. Poland said however last year it would send 400 more troops to ISAF. France has also said it would send more but has not confirmed media reports that 1,000 were headed to the force.

Canada has demanded a minimum 1,000 extra troops from its Nato allies to stay in Kandahar province, where it is under pressure.

ISAF has grown from less than 6,000 troops in 2003, when it entered Afghanistan, to about 47,000 from 39 nations. This includes 17,500, from 17 nations, in the restive south — nearly double the number 18 months ago.

New commitments would be announced at a special session on Afghanistan on April 3 to be attended by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, leaders of all the ISAF nations and the heads of the United Nations and Nato.

The session would also likely agree on the need for Afghan leadership of the international effort here and the importance of better coordination among the various nations and agencies helping Afghanistan, Jochems said.—AFP