War on Taliban: Nato to send more troops to Afghanistan

Nato is set to agree on Thursday to increase its Afghanistan training mission by some 3,000 troops, alliance officials said, after the United States switched tack in long-running efforts to defeat Taliban militants and end the conflict.

Fresh Nato personnel will not have a combat role but the alliance hopes more soldiers can train the Afghan army and air force to complement US President Donald Trump's strategy to send more American counter-terrorism troops to the country.

"We have decided to increase the number of troops ... to help the Afghans break the stalemate, to send a message to the Taliban, to the insurgents that they will not win on the battleground," Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told a news conference yesterday.

Nato defence ministers are expected to approve the deployment in the latter part of a two-day meeting that starts today.

The troops would be deployed from the start of 2018, a Nato official said.

The West says it is determined to stabilise a country facing resurgent rebels 16 years after the United States sought to topple the Taliban rulers who had harboured the al Qaeda militants behind attacks on New York and Washington.

Stoltenberg said an attack on a television station in Kabul underlined the importance of fighting militants and supporting Afghan security forces. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the assault, without giving evidence.

Trump's envoy to Nato, Ambassador Kay Bailey Hutchinson, said the US goal was to show Taliban militants they could not win in military combat.

Trump's strategy in Afghanistan, unveiled in August, rests on providing more troops, a stronger Afghan army, support from regional allies such as India and a harder line with Pakistan.

US officials say Pakistan provides refuge and support to the Taliban and other extremist groups, which Pakistan denies.

"We'd like to see Pakistan come in, in a positive effort to help stabilise Afghanistan," Hutchinson said.

There have been several attempts in recent years to broker a settlement between the Western-backed government in Kabul and the Taliban, but all have failed. Without the militants at the table, experts say it is hard to envisage a peace settlement.