Warsaw, Sep 9 (DPA) NATO Military Committee meeting in Warsaw said Saturday more soldiers were needed to combat the rising tide of violence in Afghanistan.

"We are currently at about 85 percent of the requirements and want the remainder," NATO military chief General Ray Henault told mediapersons.

The deployment in Afghanistan, which Henault described as "the most comprehensive NATO mission," was being implemented well on all levels, he said.

But it was necessary for all the countries that had signed up to the mission in Afghanistan to provide the troops they had pledged.

A NATO spokesman said that "at least 2,000 soldiers and technical staff" were needed.

NATO defence chiefs were meeting in the Polish capital to discuss current NATO missions, the training of Iraqi troops, support for the African Union mission in Sudan's Darfur region and preparations for a NATO summit in Riga at the end of November.

Afghanistan was the most prominent issue on the agenda in Warsaw.

Henault said that NATO believed that it could be satisfied with the military progress being made in the north and west of the country, but in the south resistance by Taliban fighters was stronger and more determined than expected.