NATO states say will honour Afghan troop pledges

WARSAW, Sep 8 (Reuters) NATO defence chiefs today agreed they must plug shortfalls in peacekeeping troops in Afghanistan, an alliance spokesman said, after top NATO officials conceded they had underestimated Taliban resistance.

The defence chiefs of the 26-member alliance were meeting in Poland after at least 16 people were killed today in the deadliest suicide bombing in the Afghan capital Kabul since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.

''Everybody agreed that the requirements which the countries agreed on have to be fulfilled,'' Colonel Brett Boudreau, spokesman for NATO's military committee, said after a first round of talks among alliance chiefs of defence staff in Warsaw.

NATO expanded operations to the violent south of Afghanistan a month ago despite nations having only come up with about 85 per cent of military requests for troops and equipment.

Alliance leaders yesterday acknowledged they had underestimated the intensity of resistance from Taliban insurgents and called on nations to come forward with the remaining commitments amounting to 2,000-2,500 troops plus attack helicopters and transport aircraft.

They hope the three days of talks in Warsaw will give an indication of which countries will offer reinforcements but expect final decisions to come only later in NATO capitals.

Asked whether it was realistic to expect more troops from armies already complaining of being stretched by military operations from Iraq to the Lebanon, Boudreau said: ''Of course it is realistic. But it is a political decision and we cannot answer that.'' He said nations had agreed to review the restrictions, known as caveats, on where their troops operate and what tasks they can perform. NATO commanders have complained their hands were being tied by such restrictions.

The talks continue on Saturday and Sunday.

REUTERS SBA HT2314