NATO, US troop numbers in Afghanistan

With extra troops deploying into Afghanistan every day, it is difficult to be precise about force numbers.

President Barack Obama has ordered a new strategy for the war in Afghanistan and will announce Tuesday the deployment of 30,000 more US troops in a surge over the next six months.

The plan emerged from an exhaustive policy review amid extreme weariness of the war among Americans, and as supporters warned Obama could be risking his presidency by deploying thousands more soldiers to a Vietnam-style quagmire.

Obama is due to make the announcement in a televised address at 8:00 pm (0100 GMT Wednesday) at the West Point Military Academy, near New York.

There are currently 112,000 troops in a UN-mandated, NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and separate US-led coalition, called Operation Enduring Freedom, that led the invasion that ousted the Taliban government.

The United States is by far the largest contributor of troops to Afghanistan. The US military says there are 71,000 US troops currently in the country, plus around 42,000 more from allied nations.

This compares to 115,000 US troops in Iraq.

With extra troops deploying into Afghanistan every day, it is difficult to be precise about force numbers.

Aside from the US-led coalition, here is a rough breakdown of the ISAF force based on information provided by the military:

- There are 43 troop-contributing nations, including all 26 NATO members which provide the bulk of the forces.

According to the latest update on the ISAF website dated October 22, the force numbers around 71,030 with the leading contributors as follows:

- United States: 34,800

- Britain: 9,000 -- total deployment set to hit 10,000

- Germany: 4,500

- Canada: 2,830

- France: 3,095 (3,750 according to updated French military figures)

- Italy: 2,795

- Poland: 1,910

- Netherlands: 2,160

- Australia: 1,350

- Spain: 1,000

- Romania: 990

- Turkey: 720

- Denmark: 690

The other participating states, listed in the order of their troop contributions, are:

Belgium (530), Czech Republic (480), Norway (480), Bulgaria (460), Sweden (430), Hungary (360), New Zealand (300), Croatia (290), Albania (250), Lithuania (250), Slovakia (245), Latvia (175), Finland (165), Macedonia (165), Estonia (150), Greece (145), Portugal (145), Slovenia (130), Azerbaijan (90), United Arab Emirates (25), Bosnia and Herzegovina (10), Ukraine (10), Singapore (9), Ireland (7), Luxembourg (8), Jordan (7), Austria (4), Iceland (2) and Georgia (1).

The Afghan National Army numbers around 100,000 and is expected to grow to 136,000 next year. Afghan leaders have called for an increase of up to 240,000.

There are about 93,000 Afghan police, designed to grow to 97,000 by October next year which the senior US commander in Afghanistan wants to double within a few years.

The Afghan population is estimated at between 26 and 30 million, with a full census never completed.