[Dawn] Italy is to send between 500 and 1,500 troop reinforcements to Afghanistan in 2010 to back US President Barack Obama's new war strategy, a source in the defence ministry told AFP on Thursday. 'We are looking at figures ranging between 500 and 1,500,' said the source, adding that the final number would likely be 'fairly close' to 1,000.
In an interview with the Corriere della Sera daily, Italian Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa said that press reports of 1,500 reinforcements being sent were 'hypothetical.'
'It is a figure at the top end of the scale, and one that in no way have we settled on,' the minister added.
Italy, one of 43 countries which make up the US-led coalition in Afghanistan, currently has around 2,800 troops deployed in the war against Taliban insurgents and their Al-Qaeda allies, AFP reported.
The reinforcements would make Italy's one of the largest contingents in Nato's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
Britain currently has the largest number of troops of any European country with around 9,500, Germany has around 4,500 while France has 3,300.
La Russa said that the bulk of the reinforcements were likely to arrive in the second half of 2010 after the return of around 1,000 Italian troops serving in Kosovo and a further 200 from Lebanon.
The minister gave his wholehearted backing to Obama's announcement on Tuesday that he would send another 30,000 US troops to the war which is now in its ninth year, saying that the Italians had always argued that the task of rebuilding AFghanistan could not be undertaken without a secure environment.
La Russa also told the newspaper that Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who was returned as president for a second term last month after an election riddled with fraud, had to step up efforts to combat graft and opium production.
'There must now be a serious war against corruption and the production of opium,' which is the raw ingredient for heroin, said the minister.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said on Wednesday that the credibility of Nato was at stake in Afghanistan.
'Italy is aware that the conflict in Afghanistan is not only about the future of the Afghan population but the credibility of Nato, the war against terrorism and our own security,' said the right-wing premier.