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US may send more troops to northern Afghanistan: official

10 February 2010 02:50 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. US commanders are weighing plans to send more American troops to northern Afghanistan, a region under the command of German forces, a US official said on Tuesday, APA reports citing Reuters.

The likely deployment follows a rise in violent attacks by insurgents around Kunduz and elsewhere in regional command north, the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP.

German media have reported about 2,500 US troops would head north, including about 1,000 focused on training Afghan security forces. But US and NATO commanders have yet to announce how many troops might be assigned to the north, which has been relatively calm compared to the country’s east and south.

"They (the Germans) asked for additional support," said the official.

US officers were now looking "at how many troops do we really need" in the north and what types of forces would be sent, the official said.

Military officers have said they are tracking insurgent attempts to disrupt NATO supply routes into northern Afghanistan but still view the Taliban threat as primarily in the south and eastern regions.

US officials say Washington has no plans to take over regional command north from the Germans. Germany has promised to send 500 additional troops for the troubled NATO-led mission along with a "flexible reserve" of 350 forces. Berlin has about 4,300 troops in Afghanistan, the third largest contingent in a 110,000-strong international force after the United States and Britain.

US President Barack Obama has ordered 30,000 reinforcements to Afghanistan and allies have pledged up to 10,000 more, swelling the foreign force to about 150,000 by the end of this year.