"We are now within one or two days of having fully met our commitments for election support," said the official, referring to extra deployments agreed at NATO's Istanbul summit in June.

He said the reinforcements -- mostly Spanish and Italian troops -- would bring to around 9,000 the number of troops deployed with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, which NATO has run since last year.

NATO agreed at the Istanbul summit to expand the ISAF mission, notably by increasing the number of civilian-military Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) in the north of the country, as well as temporarily beefing up forces over the election period.

A Spanish batallion based in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif has been fully operational since Monday and should provide a rapid reaction force for NATO. The Italians are in reserve in the capital, Kabul.

The United States has meanwhile sent a 110-strong infantry company to boost the Kabul mission, said the official, requesting anonymity.

A US batallion based in Vilseck, Germany, will serve as an operational reserve to ISAF commander French General Jean-Louis Py. "It is ready to go at short notice," said the official.

ISAF planes have meanwhile been used to transport election material -- notably polling boxes -- to neighbouring Iran to allow Afghan refugees there to cast their ballots.

The reinforcements are due to stay in Afghanistan for about eight weeks to help local security forces in the central Asian country, where more than 15,000 US soldiers are deployed to tackle fighters loyal to the Taliban in the south and east. They are supported by some 2,000 allied troops.

Some 10 million voters are registered to take part in the October 9 election to choose between 18 candidates, including interim President Hamid Karzaï.

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