Slovakia’s prime minister said Tuesday that his country would double the number of troops it has serving with NATO in Afghanistan to about 500.

Slovakia currently has 246 soldiers stationed there, mostly in the southern city of Kandahar.

Many NATO countries have been under pressure to deploy their troops away from the relatively safer areas of Afghanistan to more dangerous areas in the east and south of the country.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown of Britain has recently called on the alliance to commit 5,000 more troops to the mission.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/18/world/europe/18briefs-Slovakiabrief.html?ref=todayspaper&pagewanted=print

Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company