NATO military commander Gen. James Jones, who is in charge of all operations performed in Afghanistan, issued an official statement on Thursday, in which he explains that the shocking level of violence, which manifests especially in the southern provinces of the country, has overwhelmed the International security Assistance Force troops and this is the reason why he is forced to ask for extensive reinforcements to be deployed in the area.


These reinforcements he referred to as being "modest", are mainly made up by a few hundred ground troops, war helicopters and other types of military personnel transport aircraft.

His appeal was shared by NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, who called on all NATO political allies to approve the sending of additional troops in Afghanistan, in order to help the British, Canadian and Dutch ones that are basically leading the battle against the Taliban militants. "Those allies who perhaps are doing less in Afghanistan should think: shouldn't we do more? There are a number of allies who can do more", Scheffer highlighted.

According to Jones, the best opportunity for him to advance such military pleas as well as to demand the end of restrictions regarding the ways in which his troops have to be used is on Friday, when a high-level meeting with military leaders is going to take place in Warsaw.

Among the countries that are pressured to send more reinforcements in the south, there is Germany, whose troops have been deployed in the far more peaceful north. However, Germany clearly dismissed any plans of redeploying any of its 2700 troops stationed in the northern part of the country, outlining the fact that its main objective is the performance of missions in the north, not in the south.

As far as Denmark is concerned, Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen highlighted that his country has no intention whatsoever of sending more troops in addition to the 360 that are already stationed in Afghanistan and that he has not yet received any request regarding such an aspect.