Nato countries have pledged more than 5,000 troops to join the US surge in Afghanistan, officials said yesterday, although the figure still fell short of American expectations and public commitments were thin on the ground.
Italy became the latest European country to announce extra forces as Silvio Berlusconi’s Cabinet met to sign off about 1,000 additional troops.
Russia said that it would help with the transit of Nato troops, with President Medvedev suggesting that it could help to train Afghan soldiers and police.
Other countries including Spain may go public with their contribution today when Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, meets Nato foreign ministers in Brussels, although France and Germany will wait until the New Year before making announcements. “We have now well over 20 countries that are indicating or have already indicated that they intend to increase the amount of forces that they have in Afghanistan,” said James Appathurai, the Nato spokesman.
“That is on top of the 38,000 [Nato troops] already there. Based on what we have heard in the last 24 hours, we are beyond the 5,000 figure,” he said.
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Officials later said that the figure included about 1,500 troops who had been sent as reinforcements to help to run the Afghan elections who would be staying on. Mr Appathurai added: “We have significant shortfalls when it comes to trainers for the [Afghan] army and the police.”