Afghan surge

At the NATO meeting in Brussels on Thursday, ministers were able to state that they had already met the US President's request for additional troops.

Following his announcement that the US would be sending an extra 30,000 soldiers to Afghanistan, President Obama asked his NATO allies to contribute between 5,000 and 7,000 more. 20 of the 43 member states have responded.

"Based on what we have heard just in the last 24 hours, I think we can confidently say that we will surpass that number," NATO spokesman James Appathurai told reporters in Brussels. "We are beyond the 5,000 figure."

Italy pledges troops

Around 1000 of those troops are expected to come from Italy. In an interview in Thursday's Corriere della Sera newspaper, the Italian Defence Minister, Ignacio la Russa, confirmed this, saying that the exact number would be decided in the coming days.

He described Obama's request for 1,500 Italian soldiers as "a maximum quota which we would never reach… We are below that figure."

Georgia too is set to become a major participant in the International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF). It currently has only one soldier in Afghanistan, but its new offer of up to 1000 troops would make it one of the leading contributors.

1500 soldiers sent to provide security for the recent elections will now stay on in the country and will form part of the additional contingent. Around half of these troops are British. Britain has pledged to send another 500 soldiers, bringing its total contribution to 10,000.

A total of more than 1,200 troops have reportedly been promised from other countries including Poland, Spain, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

However, the deployment of 5,000 extra soldiers will effectively be balanced out by the gradual withdrawal of a total of 4,900 Dutch and Canadian combat troops between now and 2011.

Germany extends mandate

Also on Thursday, the German Bundestag voted by 445 to 105 in favour of extending the existing mandate to deploy troops in Afghanistan by one year.

With 4,500 troops operating mainly in the less volatile north of the country, Germany is currently the third largest contributor to ISAF after the United States and Britain.

Polls suggest, however, that German involvement in Afghanistan is unpopular at home, and the German government maintains that it will not discuss a possible increase in deployment until after the international conference on Afghanistan strategy due to take place in London on January 28th.

This is also the position of several other countries, including France. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner has suggested that any extra support coming from France is likely to be in the form of civilians, police or technicians.

Russian support

Russia has also announced its backing for Obama's new strategy. At a press conference in Rome on Thursday, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said that his country was "obliged to help in Afghanistan." He announced that "we are ready to support the efforts of our partners ... there will be a contribution from us."

Medvedev did not suggest that Russia would have any military involvement. Instead, he said that it would "guarantee the transit (of troops), take part in economic projects and train police and the military."

As well as the injection of troops, Obama's new strategy sets benchmarks for the Afghan government to fight both corruption and extremism. While the United States is supplying the bulk of the fighting forces, it will rely heavily on its allies to provide funds and training for the Afghan national army and police.

ISAF spokesman Brigadier-General Eric Tremblay warns that another 3,000 trainers are urgently needed in order to fulfil these requirements.

cc/AFP/dpa/Reuters

Editor: Michael Lawton