Kabul, Afghanistan – NATO-led troops battling resurgent Taliban militants will soon be reinforced with another combat brigade, the top NATO commander in Afghanistan said Thursday.
Gen. David Richards said the brigade will consist of members of different nations participating in NATO’s International Security Assistance Force. A brigade is typically 1,500 to 3,500 troops.
Richards did not say how many reinforcements he expected.
At NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, officials would not specify which countries planned to send reinforcements, saying such announcements are up to individual nations.
However, several countries plan to boost their contributions in answer to requests for more troops to join the fight against the Taliban in the spring.
Poland is expected to send about 1,200 soldiers in February, and British media have reported that Britain is considering deploying another 600 troops. It was not clear if Richards was referring to those upcoming troop contributions.
In addition, the U.S. Defense Department said Wednesday that 3,200 soldiers from the New York-based 10th Mountain Division already in the country would have their tour extended by four months.
The NATO-led force, which is bracing for renewed fighting with the Taliban this spring as the snow melts on the high mountain passes used by the militants, is about 20 percent short of the troop levels pledged by its contributing nations.
Also Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said President Bush will ask Congress for $10.6 billion to help Afghanistan strengthen its security forces and rebuild from years of war.
