NATO to provide 5,000 troops to Afghanistan

Reacting to US President Obama's Afghanistan plan, the head of NATO expects allies to provide at least 5,000 troops for Afghanistan, and possibly a few thousand more. However, the figures fall short of the 10,000 troops and instructors the Pentagon had hoped for. Australia welcomed Obama's announcement, and their troop's task is on training local military forces.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen welcomed Obama's announcement of a new US approach, stressing that Afghanistan is not a US mission alone.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO Secretary General, said, "I expect at least 5,000 more forces from other countries in our alliance and possibly a few thousand more."

Troop increases will be discussed at a NATO foreign ministers' meeting this week, but diplomats say some allies will wait for an international conference on January 28th before making any new commitments.

Australia welcomed the announcement too. And they have their own plan.

Johan Faulkner, Australian Defense Minister, said, "I can say that while we are not planning to send additional troops to Afghanistan as you know, I have asked the chief of the defense force to review the composition of our forces to ensure that we further focus our role on training in Oruzgan province."

Australia has some 1,400 troops based in Oruzgan province.

Earlier, when speaking to the Parliament, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said his country will send 500 more soldiers to Afghanistan.

Gordon Brown, British PM, said, "I can confirm that we will move to a new force level of 9,500 -- the extra troops will deploy in early December to thicken the UK troop presence in central Helmand."

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Monday that France would keep its 3,400 troops in Afghanistan for as long as necessary but did not mention the possibility of sending more.