The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) currently comprises 5,700 personnel from 35 countries whose task is confined to the capital Kabul.

"The problem is that NATO is present in a large number of foreign operations and the number of troops available to NATO cannot be extended," Alliot-Marie told journalists during a visit here.

"It's difficult to find new contributors," she said after meetings with among others, the former King of Afghanistan Zaher Shah, President Hamid Karzai, and Defence Minister Fahim Kahn.

She said ISAF could cope within the bounds of the capital, but that it would be a different story if their mission is extended further afield.

In October the United Nations and NATO, which took over command of ISAF in August, agreed to expand the force beyond Kabul to help clamp down on a recent rise in violence blamed on a resurgent Taliban and enhance security before elections next year.

France agrees in principle that ISAF's mission should extend beyond Kabul, but new missions could be carried out only with additional personnel, the minister said, before adding: "We don't plan to increase the level of French participation."

Some 500 French troops are serving with the force, plus 80 personnel seconded to train Afghan troops. France also has some 100 special forces in the south of Afghanistan.

The minister also noted that many NATO member states do not have the resources to increase their contribution in Afghanistan.

Two years after the toppling of the Taliban, southern and southeastern Afghanistan has been wracked by an intensified insurgency by fighters loyal to the fundamentalist groups like the Taliban, al-Qaeda and Hekmatyar.

WAR.WIRE