CHARLESTON, Jan 19: The US military plans to ship 500 roadside bomb-resistant vehicles to Afghanistan amid a reinforcement of 3,200 extra US troops to be deployed to fight Taliban militants.

While the mine resistant ambush protected (MRAP) vehicles remain a top priority for Iraq, where US soldiers face frequent attacks from armour-piercing explosives, more MRAPs will be sent to Afghanistan, said Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

“I think we are going to send more MRAPs to Afghanistan,” Gates said on Friday as he toured a military factory where every day 50 of those vehicles are equipped with electronic equipment.

But the defence chief emphasized that Iraq, where nearly 4,000 US soldiers have been killed since the 2003 US-led invasion, is still “the first priority”.—AFP