Italian Foreign Minister, Franco Frattini, stated that his country will not send any extra troops. Italy has recently sent four Tornado aircraft to reinforce defence and Italy currently has the fourth largest, 2,350 troops, contingent in Afghanistan. Frattini rejected the idea of dialogue with the Taliban.
Italy will not be joining the recent increased efforts from other multi-national forces, Britain and Germany.
There are almost 53,000 troops in Afghanistan from around 40 countries that make up NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).