NATO will send thousands more troops to Afghanistan, boosting the total in the war-torn country to up to 15,000, the group's Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer revealed.

The expansion of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) into the volatile southern part of the country "will of course lead to the arrival of certainly a few thousand extra NATO forces," he said Thursday.

The ISAF force has been in Afghanistan since late 2001, shortly after the toppling of the Taliban regime, and came under NATO control in 2003.

It currently numbers about 10,000 troops, including around 2,000 sent to reinforce security for last month's parliamentary elections who are due to leave again at the end of the month.

The force ensures security in the capital Kabul and across parts of northern and western provinces but it is due to move into the southern part of Afghanistan next year.

De Hoop Scheffer and NATO ambassadors were in Afghanistan for talks on finalising the planned expansion of ISAF and how it would work with the US-led coalition.

British defence secretary John Reid said Tuesday his country, a key NATO member, was to send extra troops to Afghanistan but the precise number has yet to be decided.

PHOTO CAPTION

Afghan President Hamid Karzai (L) shakes hands with NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. Scheffer said NATO will send thousands more troops to Afghanistan -- boosting the total in the war-torn country to up to 15,000. (AFP)