Germany plans to boost Afghan troop limit by 1,000

Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung said yesterday that Germany planned to increase the number of troops it can send to Afghanistan by 1,000 later this year.

Speaking at a news conference in Berlin, Mr Jung said the government wanted to raise the ceiling on German soldiers in the country to 4,500.

A parliamentary mandate which expires in October foresees a maximum of 3,500 German troops in Afghanistan. He said the government wanted the new mandate to run until December, next year, a move that would keep the politically sensitive issue out of next year's election campaign.

Any increase in troop numbers would need approval by the Bundestag lower house of Parliament.

Germany has been under pressure from Nato partners, particularly the US, to bolster its troop contingent in Afghanistan and shift soldiers from the north to the more dangerous south to help battle Taliban insurgents.

While Chancellor Angela Merkel's government has resisted shifting soldiers to the south, it has been discussing a boost to overall troop numbers for months.

The decision to raise the troop limit is sensitive in Germany, where polls show a majority of the population is critical of the mission in Afghanistan.

Roughly 60,000 foreign troops are in Afghanistan, most of them part of the Nato-led International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF), but security has deteriorated in recent years.

Some 6,000 people were killed last year, the deadliest year since US-led and Afghan forces toppled the Taliban in 2001.

At the weekend, German Nato General Egon Ramms said alliance members needed to send an additional 5,000 to 6,000 troops urgently or risk prolonging the presence of Western forces in the country by years.