WASHINGTON, June 4: The US Army's orders blocking soldiers scheduled for discharge from leaving units heading for duty in Iraq and Afghanistan shows the number of forces deployed there are insufficient, analysts here said.

The "stop-loss" order, issued on Tuesday by Reginald Brown, assistant army secretary for manpower and reserve affairs, is effective from the time a unit is ordered to deploy to either country until after they return to the US.

The order is likely to affect thousands of US soldiers - possibly tens of thousands, depending on how long the US military remains in Iraq and Afghanistan. "Continuing personnel losses caused by routine rotational policies have the potential to adversely impact training, cohesion, and stability in future ... deploying units," Mr Brown said in a statement.

"To ensure our formations remain a cohesive element throughout their deployment it is necessary to stop personnel losses from the deploying units until after they return to their permanent duty stations."-AFP