The 15-member council adopted Resolution 1890, which recognizes "the need to further strengthen ISAF (NATO's International Security Assistance Force) to meet all its operational requirements, and in this regard calls upon member states to contribute personnel, equipment and other resources to ISAF."

But the measure did not specify exactly what those contributions should be.

The Japanese-drafted text extended ISAF authorization "for a period of twelve months beyond 13 October 2009," when its current mandate expires.

The council vote came as US President Barack Obama's administration is in the midst of reviewing its strategy in Afghanistan, where international forces are battling a Taliban insurgency that has made recent gains, leading to the highest levels of violence since the start of the war.

Obama, who is chairing a series of high-powered meetings to examine the troubled eight-year-old war effort, is weighing a request for up to 40,000 more US troops from his commander there, General Stanley McChrystal.

ISAF currently fields 67,700 troops, including around 32,000 US forces. The total US contingent is set to reach 68,000 by year's end.

The council resolution encouraged ISAF and other partners "to sustain their efforts, as resources permit, to train, mentor and empower the Afghan national security forces, in order to accelerate progress towards the goal of self-sufficient, accountable and ethnically balanced Afghan security forces."

It also welcomed "the increasing leadership role" Afghan authorities have assumed in security matters across the country and "stresses the importance of supporting the planned expansion of the Afghan National Army and the Afghan national police."

UN special envoy to Afghanistan Kai Eide told the Security Council last month it was "encouraging" that the Afghan army's troop increase was ahead of schedule and could reach the 134,000 goal by October next year, instead of 2012 as initially planned.

He said a decision should be made to hike the number of police to around 140,000 before the end of the year, stressing the need for "better training, better equipment and better incentives."

Eide said more international troops should be deployed to train Afghan security forces "quickly," telling reporters it was "quite inevitable" that would necessarily require more foreign troops "not only for the training, but also for the mentoring in the field."

Britain's UN Ambassador John Sawers said the resolution "underlines the extent of the international support for the international effort" in Afghanistan.

Some 100,000 NATO and US troops are currently stationed in Afghanistan, helping a weak central government contain a Taliban insurgency that is causing the worst spike in violence since the 2001 US-led invasion toppled the hardline regime.

The council expressed "strong concern" about Afghanistan's security situation.

It pointed to "increased violent and terrorist activities by the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, illegally armed groups, criminals and those involved in the narcotics trade, and the increasingly strong links between terrorism activities and illicit drugs."

Sawers noted the text underscored the importance of protecting Afghan civilians, who have been reeling from a wave of suicide bombings by extremist forces but also from deadly US air strikes.

The resolution expressed serious concern about the "high" number of civilian casualties and called for "compliance with international humanitarian and human rights law and for all appropriate measures to be taken to ensure the protection of civilians."

Last weekend, eight American soldiers were killed in an ambush in eastern Nuristan province, the single deadliest incident for international forces in Afghanistan since 10 French troops died in August 2008.

The insurgency has paralyzed the Western-backed reconstruction drive, killing thousands of people as NATO and US troops have become bogged down in fighting.

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