By DPA,
Washington : The US is debating the deployment of an additional 7,000 soldiers to Afghanistan in the coming year, according to a report published Saturday in the New York Times.
The new troops are to balance out the lack of forces from other members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), the report said citing high-ranking government officials.
The proposed new deployment would bring the number of US soldiers in Afghanistan to 40,000, the highest level since the beginning of the Afghan war more than six years ago.
Currently, around 62,000 foreign troops are stationed in Afghanistan.
US commanders on the ground have requested at a minimum an added deployment of 10,000 soldiers in the fight against the Islamist extremist Taliban and terrorist groups operating in the country.