"Concerning police, there is really a big shortfall," he told reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

"We are still short of more than 100 training teams."

The teams usually comprise 20-30 trainers, and a NATO official said between 2,000 and 2,400 more personnel were required.

Rasmussen warned: "That's at the current level, but in the coming couple of years we will need even more."

NATO is battling a virulent Taliban and Al Qaeda-led insurgency in Afghanistan, but wants to hand responsibility for security over to the national army and police forces within five years.

Under its new strategy, aimed at protecting civilians rather than hunting down fighters, NATO wants to expand the police force from some 80,000 now, to 109,000 in October, and 134,000 by October 2011.

Rasmussen said he would discuss ideas to build up the training effort in Istanbul on Friday during talks with NATO defence ministers, but he declined to provide details.

"I think it's achievable to reach our goal, as far as the training mission is concerned. We have to discuss it now in detail with all partners," he said.

The European Union is also operating a police training mission in Afghanistan. It was meant to have reached capacity of 400 staff last year, but has only managed to find around 60 percent of the personnel.

"I think we will need more than that. I will talk with allies and see if they can provide more trainers," within the separate NATO training mission, Rasmussen said.

earlier related report
Czech government faces battle over Afghan military boost
Prague (AFP) Feb 1, 2010 - The Czech cabinet on Monday decided to send 55 training and support staff to boost the country's military contingent in Afghanistan, the Czech foreign minister said.

No combat troops are to be sent, but the decision is subject to approval by the parliament, which is dominated by left-wingers who oppose any increase in the Czech presence in the war-torn country.

"The proposed increase concerns 55 people, 15 military police instructors and the rest in charge of two radars," which will protect a Polish base in Ghazni in central Afghanistan, Foreign Minister Jan Kohout said.

Defence Minister Martin Bartak said the aim was to boost training and support units, reiterating that no combat troops were to be sent.

Kohout admitted the government faced a tough battle to win parliament's backing for the proposal.

"We can send the soldiers only with the parliament's approval. The negotiations won't be easy," Kohout said, adding he expected the troops to be deployed in the second half of the year.

Under the limit for this year approved by lawmakers after much wrangling, the Czech army can deploy up to 535 personnel in Afghanistan.

Some 277 Czech troops are in Afghanistan to protect a 14-member Czech provincial reconstruction team in the eastern Logar province.

Other Czech soldiers are operating at Kabul airport and a helicopter base, according to the defence ministry.

earlier related report
Spanish army convoy struck by mine in Afghanistan, one dead
Madrid (AFP) Feb 1, 2010 - A Colombian national serving in the Spanish army died Monday, and six others were injured, after the armoured vehicle they were traveling in struck a powerful mine in Afghanistan, the defence ministry said.

The soldiers were escorting a convoy from the World Food Programme when their vehicle hit the ant-vehicle mine north of Qala-I-Naw in Badghis province in the northwest of the war-ravaged country, the spokesman said.

The deceased was identified as Jon Felipe Romero Meneses, a 21-year-old who served in an army regiment based in Spain's northeastern Catalonia region.

Two of the six injured soldiers are also Colombian nationals, the defence ministry said in a statement.

The injured soldiers, aged between 19 and 28, were transported to a hospital in the nearby city of Herat by helicopter, it added.

Spain allows nationals from its former colonies in Latin America and Equatorial Guinea, a former holding in West Africa, to serve in its military if they have their residency papers in order and commit for three years.

Foreigners make up about seven percent of the military's 80,000-member force. By nationality Ecuadorians are the largest group, followed by Colombians and Bolivians.

Serving in the armed forces can help immigrants to obtain Spanish citizenship more quickly as the military puts the required paperwork on a fast track.

Spain has 1,065 troops in Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and Madrid plans to send a further later this year.

Meneses was one of three NATO soldiers who were killed in Afghanistan on Monday.

The deaths bring to 47 the total number of foreign soldiers to die in Afghanistan so far this year, according to an AFP tally based on that kept by the independent icasualties.org website.

Most of the deaths are US soldiers, who account for the vast majority of the 113,000 international troops leading Afghan security services in the fight against Taliban-led insurgents.

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