The deputy commander of NATO-led forces in Afghanistan says he is confident member states will send thousands of extra troops needed to bolster security for presidential elections in August.
Lieutenant General Jim Dutton told reporters Monday "we are talking about thousands" of soldiers, but he added "not many thousands." He explained they will be used to provide extra mobile forces on one or two days for the August 20 polls.
Dutton also said NATO is confident they will get what they have asked for.
U.S. President Barack Obama has approved the deployment of around 17,000 extra troops this year. Most will go to southern Afghanistan, where the Taliban insurgency is the most entrenched. An extra 120 helicopters also are en route.
In southwestern Nimroz province, authorities say two suicide bombers detonated their explosives at an anti-drug police station, killing one officer and wounding two others.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
In other violence, an Afghan official says Taliban insurgents attacked at least one police post late Sunday in the western province of Badghis. A deputy provincial governor (Abdul Ghani Sabery) says coalition forces responded with air strikes that killed at least seven militants.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters
