Ottawa, Feb 13 (DPA) Canada was Tuesday considering withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan after sustaining heavy losses in the volatile south, according to an interim report by the Canadian Senate committee on national security and defence.

Canada should consider its withdrawal, if it does not receive greater support from other NATO forces, the Senate committee recommended, according to the Globe and Mail.

In the "frank interim 16-page report, the Senate committee on national security and defence says more troops, more money and a bigger commitment from other NATO countries must be gained within a year", the Globe and Mail quoted the report as saying.

If these demands were not met, Ottawa should reconsider its mission, the head of the Senate committee Colin Kenny said when releasing the report Monday.

He asked: "Are Canadians willing to commit themselves to decades of involvement in Afghanistan, which could cost hundreds of Canadian lives and billions of dollars with no guarantee of ending up with anything like the kind of society that makes sense to us?"

Canada presently has a 2,500-strong troop contingent that forms the core of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in the Afghan province of Kandahar.

Canadian troops have been involved in some of the worst fighting in southern Afghanistan and have sustained 42 fatalities.

The report's findings are based on a two-year investigation by the commission and includes observations made by senators during inspections and talks in Kabul and Kandahar.

The report comes at a time when more ISAF troop providers are focusing their missions in the relatively secure northern part of Afghanistan.

--DPA