NATO to follow US lead with 5,000 troops for Afghanistan

Brussels, Dec 2: NATO's non-American members are to follow the US lead by sending at least 5,000 extra troops to Afghanistan next year, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Wednesday.

US President Barack Obama Tuesday announced plans to boost the US contingent in Afghanistan by 30,000 troops, putting the pressure on NATO's other members to follow suit.

"I can confirm that the allies and our partners will do more, substantially more. In 2010, the non-US members of this mission will send at least 5,000 more soldiers to this operation, and probably a few thousands on top of that," Rasmussen told journalists in

Brussels.

NATO currently has some 71,000 troops in its International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. Half are US troops, while NATO's European members have contributed some 32,000 soldiers.

But many European states are reluctant to commit more forces to the campaign, which is unpopular among their voters and seen as a legacy of the unilateralist policies of former US president George W. Bush.

"The US has pursued a multilateral approach to this operation ... This is not just America's war. If we are to make Afghanistan more stable, we must all do more," Rasmussen said.