LISBON (AFP) — Portugal's military have given the green light for a proposal to increase its troops in Afghanistan by nearly a third next year, according to the Lusa news agency.
"In the context of the new NATO strategy for Afghanistan, the (military) council favours an increase in the national contribution for 2010," General Goulao de Melo told a meeting attended by President Anibal Cavaco Silva, who is the titular head of the defence forces.
Lusa news agency said Portugal, which has kept troops in Afghanistan since 2002, would increase the numbers from 102 at present to 150 next year.
The military also said it would like to despatch a C-130 Hercules transport aircraft and about 40 soldiers to Afghanistan in the coming weeks for a period of three months until presidential elections there on August 20.
The more than 60,000-strong International Security Assistance Force led by NATO in Afghanistan comprises troops from 42 nations.
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