WASHINGTON, Jan. 25 (UPI) -- The U.S. Defense Department is extending the deployments of 3,200 soldiers in Afghanistan by four months, the Pentagon announced.
The soldiers are from the 3rd Brigade of the 10th Mountain Division out of Fort Drum, N.Y. They are being extended at the request of NATO commanders on the ground, which is in pitched battle with resurgent Taliban in south and central Afghanistan.
NATO has requested several thousand additional forces from other alliance members but they have not yet been provided.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates told reporters Jan. 17 he would consider adding more troops or extending troops in Afghanistan.
"I think it's very important that we not let the success here in Afghanistan slip away from us and that we keep the initiative. There's no reason to sit back and let the Taliban regroup and try and threaten the progress that's been made here," Gates said. "If the people who are leading the struggle out here believe that there is a need for some additional help to sustain the success that we've had, I'm going to be very sympathetic to that kind of a request."
Gates said he will be taking a request for more NATO troops to go to Afghanistan when he meets with alliance defense ministers in Seville this week.
"Certainly one of the themes that I will be carrying is the importance of our NATO partners fulfilling the commitments that they've already made. They are doing an amazing job in Iraq, and we're very proud and impressed with what they've accomplished. But clearly there is a need for them to fulfill these commitments, and I'll be asking them to do that," he said.
The extension in Afghanistan comes as U.S. Army brigades have seen their year-long deployments in Iraq extended.
