Afstan: Slovakia first in hoped-for NATO troop increase

Further to 3) at this post a month ago, it's now official:

Slovakia to add 250 NATO troops to Afghan mission

Slovakia pledged about 250 extra soldiers Tuesday to the NATO-led force in Afghanistan, the first of what British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said would be a series of international reinforcements.

The central European country will double the size of its 246-strong contingent in Afghanistan, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said in a joint statement with Brown following talks in the British capital.

Brown, who has said he is lobbying allies in Europe and elsewhere for as many as 5,000 extra soldiers [see 2) here], said more such announcements were on their way.

"We will be approaching other countries and I believe that, including Britain, maybe 10 countries will be prepared to give extra support in Afghanistan," he said.

NATO's Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, in the Scottish city of Edinburgh on Tuesday for an address to the group's parliamentary assembly, has so far steered clear of saying how many extra reinforcements the trans-Atlantic alliance was willing to send to Afghanistan.

He told delegates Tuesday that NATO was leaning toward adopting a new counterinsurgency strategy that would include a substantial number of extra troops — but he did not elaborate...

...neither he nor the Slovak leader said when or where the Slovaks might be deployed. They currently serve in the Afghan province of Kandahar and in Uruzgan alongside Dutch soldiers [emphasis added], but the statement said they could be relocated to "other territorial parts of Afghanistan."..

I'll be very suprised if 5,000 troops are pledged, and will bet that most of those who are will not be for combat, maybe some for training but certainly not mentoring in the field. And I'm very doubtful the biggies (Germany, France, Italy, Spain) will contribute much more. As for the Germans:

Germany to extend Afghanistan mission another year