NATO, US troop numbers in Afghanistan

KABUL, Dec 2, 2009 (AFP) - US President Barack Obama Tuesday announced he was pouring 30,000 more troops into Afghanistan, vowing to "seize the initiative" to end the unpopular war and start a pullout in July 2011.

In a major speech unveiling a new fast-track war strategy, Obama pledged for the first time that US forces would start coming home in 19 months, as he groped for an exit from a conflict many backers see as similar to Vietnam.


There are already 113,000 troops in a UN-mandated, NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and separate US-led coalition, called Operation Enduring Freedom, that led the invasion that ousted the Taliban.

The United States is by far the largest contributor of troops to Afghanistan. The US military says there are 71,000 US troops currently in the country, plus around 42,000 more from allied nations.

This compares to 115,000 US troops in Iraq.

With new troops deploying into Afghanistan every day, it is difficult to be precise about force numbers.

Aside from the US-led coalition, here is a rough breakdown of the ISAF force based on information provided by the military in Kabul:

- There are 43 troop-contributing nations, including all 28 NATO members which provide the bulk of the forces.

According to the latest update on the ISAF website dated October 22, the force numbers around 71,000 with the leading contributors as follows:

- United States: 34,800

- Britain: 9,000 -- total deployment set to hit 10,000

- Germany: 4,500

- Canada: 2,830

- France: 3,095 (3,750 according to updated French military figures)

- Italy: 2,795

- Netherlands: 2,160

- Poland: 1,910

- Australia: 1,350

- Spain: 1,000

- Romania: 990

- Turkey: 720

- Denmark: 690

The other participating states, listed in the order of their troop contributions, are:

Belgium (530), Czech Republic (480), Norway (480), Bulgaria (460), Sweden (430), Hungary (360), New Zealand (300), Croatia (290), Albania (250), Lithuania (250), Slovakia (245), Latvia (175), Finland (165), Macedonia (165), Estonia (150), Greece (145), Portugal (145), Slovenia (130), Azerbaijan (90), United Arab Emirates (25), Bosnia and Herzegovina (10), Ukraine (10), Singapore (9), Luxembourg (8), Ireland (7), Jordan (7), Austria (4), Iceland (2) and Georgia (1). Armenia is also listed, but currently has no troops deployed.

The Afghan National Army numbers around 100,000 and is expected to grow to 136,000 next year. Afghan leaders have called for an increase of up to 240,000.

Afghans say there are about 93,000 Afghan police, designed to grow to 97,000 by October next year, a figure the senior US commander in Afghanistan wants to double within a few years.

But last month, General Egon Ramms, a German commander in the NATO-led force in Afghanistan, said police numbered 68,000 and of 94,000 Afghan soldiers trained so far, 10,000 have defected.

The Afghan population is estimated at between 26 and 30 million, with a full census never completed.


by Farhad Pouladi
(c) 2009 AFP