France Will Bolster NATO Troops in Afghanistan
France will send several hundred more troops to Afghanistan to reinforce security in Kabul, the capital, when NATO expands operations in the country next year, the French defense minister, Michèle Alliot-Marie, said here on Sunday. NATO took over the International Security Assistance Force peacekeepers in 2003, two years after United States-led forces overthrew the Taliban government. Earlier this month, NATO agreed to expand its presence in 2006, but still left the most dangerous counterinsurgency work to the American-led coalition. Full Story