KABUL, Oct 6: Nato will send thousands of more troops to Afghanistan, boosting the total in the country to 15,000, the alliance’s Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said on Thursday.

The expansion of the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) into the volatile southern part of the country ‘will of course lead to the arrival of certainly a few thousand extra Nato forces’, he told reporters.

“I can’t give you the exact numbers, but you may say it will be well over 10,000, between 13 and 14, 15,000,” he said, referring to eventual size of the expanded force.

The ISAF force has been in Afghanistan since late 2001, shortly after the toppling of the Taliban, and came under Nato control in 2003.

It currently numbers about 10,000 troops, including around 2,000 sent to reinforce security for last month’s parliamentary elections who are due to leave again at the end of the month.

The force ensures security in Kabul and across parts of northern and western provinces, but it is due to move into the southern part of Afghanistan next year.

De Hoop Scheffer and Nato ambassadors were in Afghanistan for talks on finalizing the planned expansion of ISAF and how it would work with the US-led forces.

The secretary general downplayed reports that some of Nato’s 26 members were concerned about the planned expansion, with ISAF troops currently not involved in operations unlike their US-led counterparts.

Nato members would discuss the planned expansion at a meeting in London around the end of January, he said.

Key issues to be finalized are the command structure of the new operation and its rules of engagement, he said—AFP