Asia-Pacific

Officials: Obama asks up to 10,000 European troops

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-12-02 01:54

BRUSSELS: President Barack Obama is asking European members of the military alliance to contribute up to 10,000 new troops to the international force in Afghanistan, NATO officials said Tuesday.

A diplomat from a European nation said the troop figure was included in an official NATO document compiled on the basis of information received from Washington before Obama's announcement later Tuesday of new US troop deployments.

Paris was being asked to provide 1,500 troops, said the official who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter. Except for 30,000 US reinforcements, that will be the single largest new contribution to the expanded NATO-led force, he said.

A second official, from another European member nation, also said Europe was being asked for up to 10,000 more troops.

They said that although Obama wants more combat troops from the allies, the prime emphasis will be on military instructors to train the expanding Afghan army. Other top priorities will include funding to pay for the training program, the new Afghan troops, and equipment.

With the added forces, the NATO contingent will grow from the present 71,000 troops - about half of them Americans - to nearly 110,000.