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New Afghanistan troop request aimed at NATO

A new request for 2,000 additional troops to help train Afghans will not affect the overall number of U.S. troops deployed in Afghanistan, a Pentagon official said.

“This does not involve adding U.S. forces. ... This does not change the total” number of U.S. troops, Marine Col. Dave Lapan, a public affairs officer, told reporters Tuesday.

Current U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan are reaching 95,000, nearing the peak during the so-called surge of 30,000 additional U.S. troops that President Obama announced in December 2009.

Reports about additional troops stem from Gen. David Petraeus renewing a long-standing request for additional NATO troops with the alliance’s headquarters in Belgium, Lapan said.

Many of those troops would be assigned to train Afghan security forces. The alliance has had trouble raising more troops for the training ar effort, with at least 450 training slots still unfilled after more than a year.

“We would look to NATO to first try and fill that request,” Lapan said.

The request comes as the U.S and NATO are ramping up efforts to train Afghan soldiers and police. In addition to U.S. troops, allies currently provide about 48,000 troops in Afghanistan.