New Nato chief in call over troops

Mr Rasmussen said the organisation would need to step up military efforts in the "coming months and years", alongside increased civil reconstruction, in order to secure peace.

But he warned there would be no military solution alone, highlighting the need to provide Afghans with better life opportunities and strengthen the country's police and armed forces.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme from Afghanistan, Mr Rasmussen - who took over from Jaap de Hoop Scheffer earlier this month - said he had seen progress compared with previous visits.

He said the criteria of success for Nato's mission was gradually to hand over responsibility for security to the Afghan people, allowing the police and army to take over "province by province as their capacity develops".

Asked whether more troops - including British service personnel - were required, the Secretary General replied: "Honestly speaking I think we need more troops. I have seen progress in the south, not least thanks to the increase in the number of troops. So definitely the number of troops matters.

"However, we also have to realise that there is no military solution solely. We have to provide the Afghan people with better life opportunities as well if we are to win hearts and minds, and this will be at the core of our new strategy.

"In a few weeks' time our commanders in the field will provide us with an updated assessment of the situation. Based on that we will take the necessary decisions to proceed."

Mr Rasmussen's comments came on the day the latest British soldier to be killed in Afghanistan was being flown home.

Craftsman Anthony Lombardi, 21, from Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, died in an explosion in Babaji in Helmand Province on Tuesday. The mechanic, from the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, was driving a Spartan vehicle on a supply convoy when it was hit by the blast.