By IRNA,
London : The Nato mission in Afghanistan is “critically” short of key troops and equipment, according to a leaked British Foreign Office briefing.
The three-page document, which summarizes the British view of Afghanistan, was drawn up at the request of Prime Minister Gordon Brown to be distributed to western allies, according to the Daily Telegraph, which published extracts of the report Tuesday.
“Critical military gaps remain to be filled,” the paper said, listing that Nato still needed more helicopters, more aircraft and more training teams to help the Afghan army.
It also raises concerns about the situation after November, when more than 2,300 US Marines are to be withdrawn from the south, where British forces are based.
Brown has repeatedly tried to persuade allies including France and Germany to bear more of the military burden in Afghanistan, but the paper was said to concede his efforts are largely failing.
The warning comes despite Nato increasing the number of troops in Afghanistan from 32,000 to 47,000 in the past year. But of these, 32,500 are from the US and around 7,000 from the UK.