NATO ministers announced support of a U.S. plan to reorganize the alliance’s forces in Afghanistan, during a June 12 meeting in Brussels, Voice of America reports. Under the reorganization, 10,000 more troops will provide security during the country’s Aug. 20 presidential election, and provide more training to Afghan security forces. NATO strength in Afghanistan has increased twofold during the past year, to 60,000. Another 21,000 U.S. troops are headed for the country as well. VOA also reports that NATO will continue its anti-piracy mission in the Horn of Africa region. Meanwhile, Army Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the officer tapped to command NATO forces in Afghanistan, stopped in Brussels on June 12 while en route to Kabul, to meet with the alliance’s ministers and listen to their deliberations. McChrystal assumed his new command the next day.
