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NATO urges more allied forces in Afghanistan

* US rewards Afghans with $38.7 million in drug fight

BRUSSELS: NATO said on Monday it wants allied nations to commit more forces to Afghanistan ahead of President Barack Obama's decision on a further increase in the record US contingent there.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen is in the midst of intense consultations on getting more troops, equipment, funding and other resources for the newly established NATO Training Mission, spokesman James Appathurai said.

The new command was established on Saturday to oversee higher-level training and mentoring for Afghan forces. Its hopes to support a massive enlargement of the Afghan army, preparing it to eventually assume command over the war against the escalating Taliban insurgency.

An upgraded Afghan army is a key requirement for the eventual withdrawal of international troops from Afghanistan.

Although several allies have said they will dispatch some reinforcements, most NATO nations have so far shied away from making firm commitments.

“The secretary general is intensifying his engagement with allies ... to encourage allies to contribute the maximum possible to the training mission,” Appathurai said.

NATO foreign ministers plan to meet on December 3-4 where some may pledge additional contributions to the war effort.

Military commanders were supposed to meet this week, but that was delayed because Obama has not yet announced the expected increase of thousands more US troops. The decision is expected in coming days.

Reward: The US, meanwhile, signed an agreement on Monday giving $38.7 million to 27 Afghan provinces that eliminated or significantly reduced opium production in the world's biggest supplier country.

“This is a very serious problem which expands around the world, but also a problem for the Afghan society as well, with one of the highest addiction rates in the world,” said US embassy official Anthony Wayne.

The memorandum of understanding extends $38.7 million to Afghanistan's Counter-narcotics Ministry, which will disperse the cash to the 27 different provinces to finance development or alternative crops.

Destitute Afghanistan produces around 90 percent of the world's opium, used to make the heroin sold on the streets of Europe and central Asia, with profits helping to bankroll the Taliban in an eight-year insurgency. agencies

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