Comment Tell A Friend Print Format Save Article Despite growing pressure on Norway to participate in NATO operations in southern Afghanistan, Defense Minister Anne-Grete Strom-Erichsen said she prefers to concentrate Norwegian contingent's efforts in the north of the war-torn country, said reports reaching Stockholm on Wednesday.



"A dispersion is extremely demanding for a small nation," Strom-Erichsen told Norwegian news agency NTB.



She believes NATO gets the most out of the Norwegian effort by having it concentrated in the Norwegian-led stabilization force in Maimana.



"We will strengthen the effort where we have a responsibility. We see that there is a growing security challenge there and how important it is to hinder the Taliban from expanding their activity northwards," Strom-Erichsen said.



Norway currently has about 100 soldiers stationed in Maimana, a number that may be doubled, though the minister said that was also dependent on what other NATO members did. Norwegian helicopters will almost certainly be moved in.



"We have depended on German helicopter capacity in the north, but we are now assessing our own capacity in Maimana, at least two helicopters," she said.



On Thursday Strom-Erichsen will travel to Noordwijk in the Netherlands for an informal two-day meeting of NATO defense ministers, where Afghanistan is one of the central topics for discussion.



U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has warned he will press NATO allies for more support in Afghanistan.



Strom-Erichsen said it was hardly an option for Norway to increase its current force of around 500 soldiers in the NATO-led ISAF force in Afghanistan.



"I fully understand that the Netherlands and Canada ask for assistance but there is a difference between Norway and countries like Germany, Italy and Spain. We are where we are, and we will discuss the overall picture," the defense minister said.



Source:Xinhua