Berlin to send more troops to Afghanistan

BERLIN/ISTANBUL: Just ahead of tomorrow's international conference on Afghanistan in London, German Chancellor Angela Merkel confirmed her nation will send 500 additional troops to Afghanistan as part of a refocused strategy in the north of the country.

The extra troops will focus on protecting the civilian population as well as training Afghan forces to help President Hamid Karzai's government assume more responsibility for security, Merkel said. No deadline has been set for German troops to pull out, she said.

Germany has been under increased pressure from NATO and its allies to deploy more combat troops to the north of the country following US President Barack Obama's decision to send 30,000 additional soldiers. The mission has become more unpopular as violence in the region increases, underscored by a German-ordered airstrike in Kunduz province in September that NATO says killed as many as 142 civilians.