Washington: The commander of US and Nato forces in Afghanistan said yestreday that the coalition had a shortfall of a "few thousands" of troops in the country.
General John Nicholson was testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee about the force training and advising Afghan troops in the fight against the Taliban.
Nato now has about 13,300 troops in the country, about half of them from the US.
Nicholson said he had raised the shortfall with his superiors in the military, including with Defence Secretary James Mattis, and that the issue will also be on the agenda at a meeting of Nato defence ministers next week in Brussels, he said.
US-led Nato troops stopped leading patrols and stepped into an advisory and support role at the end of 2014.
But Afghan army and police forces face continual assaults from a well-funded and well-armed Taliban, with casualties in their ranks up 35 percent last year compared to 2015, according to a US government report.
