NATO promises 7,000 more troops for Afghanistan

BRUSSELS, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- The new U.S. Afghanistan strategy has elicited promises totaling more than 7,000 extra troops from NATO member countries, Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Friday.

The foreign ministers' meeting of NATO countries and non-NATO contributors to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)  in Afghanistan is held at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, capital  of Belgium, Dec. 4, 2009. (Xinhua/Wu Wei)

At least 25 countries would contribute to the reinforcements, which would be sent to the insurgency-wracked country next year, he said.

Rasmussen made the announcement here at a news conference after chairing talks with NATO foreign ministers from 44 countries involved in the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan.

He also said more troops were expected as some countries would make their decisions after the international conference on Afghanistan in January next year.

The secretary general did not specify which countries had promised more troops and the number of troops each country would send.

U.S. President Barack Obama said he would deploy 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan in the first part of 2010, in his prime time address at the United States Military Academy at West Point on Tuesday night, and called on NATO allies to follow suit.