Australia calls for more Afghanistan troops

An additional 10,000 troops are required to quell a Taliban and al-Qaida insurgency in southern Afghanistan but European Nato partners appear unwilling to deploy more soldiers, Australia’s defence minister said today.

“At least 10,000 (more troops) would give us the critical mass necessary to do what we need to do on the military front,” Joel Fitzgibbon said.

“Having spoken to a number of European countries over the course of the last four months, I don’t see a lot of hope that anyone else is about to put their hand up anytime soon. That’s a worry because if they (troops) don’t come, progress will continue to be all too slow,” he said.

The United States currently contributes 33,000 of the 51,000 troops in the 40-nation International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.

Mr Fitzgibbon said he expected Washington would send more troops to Afghanistan as it withdrew others from Iraq.

“Because of the strength of the United States’ commitment, I think if it (a troop deployment) doesn’t come from others ... they (the US) will do more,” he said.

He said US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, whom he met at an international security conference in Singapore last weekend, agreed for the need to substantially increase troop numbers in Afghanistan.

“He’s certainly given me the impression that the United States remains absolutely committed to the project and he’s certainly given me the impression that there’s likely to be continuity on that issue across the administration regardless of who wins in November,” Mr Fitzgibbon said, referring to upcoming US presidential elections.

Mr Fitzgibbon said Australia was already carrying its fair share of the burden with 1,000 troops in Afghanistan, the 10th-largest national contribution and the largest outside Nato.