BRUSSELS - Poland is to supply most of the extra combat troops sought by NATO to tackle the insurgency in southern Afghanistan, with the first group due in position shortly, a NATO spokesman said Tuesday.
"It is for Poland to time the deployment," the spokesman said, but he added "the initial elements of that battalion will be going in relatively soon and will continue to flow into the country until early next year."
Polish leaders pledged earlier this month to boost the country's contribution to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan from 120 troops to about 1,000 by next February.
It came after NATO military commander General James Jones urged the military alliance's 26 members to find some 2,000 extra personnel to confront the insurgency, led by fighters from the Taliban, once in power in Kabul.
The reserve force would comprise a battalion of between 500 and 700 combat troops plus attack helicopters and reconnaissance staff, whose logistical backing would involve around 1,500 personnel.
The NATO spokesman, James Appathurai, could not say exactly how many troops would be sent but he said Poland had also agreed to lift its "caveats", or restrictions, on the use of its contingent.
"The Polish government has agreed this battalion can be used in an uncaveated way, and of course without geographical restrictions and can be used where necessary by the commander as a reserve," he told reporters.
This "goes a significant way to meeting the requirements that SACEUR (Supreme Allied Commander Europe -- Jones) has put forward," he added.