NATO seeks more police, army trainers

KABUL, Afghanistan, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- NATO members met in Mons, Belgium, to consider adding 2,000 or more personnel to train the army and police in Afghanistan, a spokesman said.

The meeting comes as NATO and Afghan forces are conducting a major offensive in southern Afghanistan to drive out the Taliban from stronghold towns and set up local governance, the Voice of America reported.

However, the report said, public opinion in Europe is strongly against the Afghan war. Last week the ruling coalition in the Netherlands collapsed over extending the presence of the 2,000-strong Dutch force in Afghanistan.

NATO spokesman Col. Gregory Julian said the Mons meeting was called to obtain pledges of more than 2,000 personnel to train the Afghan army and police, VOA reported.

"It is an individual decision of each of the nations and we have been very pleased with all the contributions," Julian said. "And we are still encouraging additional contributions and that is what this process is all about."

NATO's plans call for increasing the strength of the Afghan army and police force by tens of thousands this year and more trainers are needed to reach that goal, the report said.

European Council on Foreign Relations security expert Daniel Korski told VOA the alliance will be able to add more trainers but not as much as it wants since training involves taking considerable risks.