BERLIN, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- Germany decided to send 850 extra soldiers to Afghanistan, Chancellor Angela Merkel announced Tuesday, two days before a key NATO-led conference on Afghanistan to be held in London.
Merkel said in Berlin that 500 of those troops would be sent to join the 4,500-strong German troops, mostly of whom have already deployed in the northern Afghanistan, as part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
Another 350 troops would be kept as a "flexible reserve," which could be used to strengthen public security in events such as the parliamentary election scheduled in September.
A NATO-led international conference on Afghanistan strategy will be held in London on Jan. 28. German allies are expecting Merkel's government to send more soldiers to Afghanistan, as a response to U.S. President Barack Obama's decision to increase 30,000 additional combat troops. Merkel had insisted that any decision on additional forces would not be made until the NATO-led conference.
The chancellor is to meet Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Jan. 26 as he travels to London for the international conference.
