Afghans urge Europeans to share burden with U.S.

By David Brunnstrom

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Afghanistan's defence minister urged European governments on Thursday to step up their military and other efforts for his country to share the burden equally with the United States.

"I hope there will be additional support for the mission in Afghanistan," Abdul Rahim Wardak said before a meeting of NATO defence ministers in Brussels that will discuss the struggling international effort against Islamist militancy in Afghanistan.

"The burden should be shared equitably," he said, when asked if he wanted European countries to do more after big increases in the U.S. military and financial commitment to the country.

Wardak said the focus should be on helping Afghans build up their own security forces and said he wanted NATO countries to contribute more to a trust fund set up to finance the training and day-to-day running of the Afghan armed forces.

The fund has currently received only about 24 million euros in contributions and another 221 million euros pledged for running costs of the Afghan security forces -- well short of the $2 billion a year that will be needed.

The United States and its NATO allies are aiming to boost the size of the Afghan army to 134,000 and the Afghan police force to 86,000 by 2010, which will require stepped up training missions and funding.

The project is still short of trainers and NATO hopes ministers will pledge at least 13 more military training teams and deploy paramilitary police trainers promised by EU states.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates urged European allies on Wednesday to remain engaged even as Washington boosts its troop numbers by more than 30,000 this year.