PARIS - France's defence minister said Tuesday that military strength alone won't bring stability to Afghanistan, even as France considers increasing the number of troops it has stationed there.
France has not yet decided how it will boost its contribution to NATO's Afghan mission beyond the 1,500 troops it has there already, Defence Minister Herve Morin told The Associated Press.
Most operate in the capital, Kabul, and its northern suburbs.
The decision on whether to expand the size of the French contingent is expected at a NATO summit in Bucharest, Romania, next week. Any enhanced French role must be considered as part of a "global approach'' in Afghanistan, Morin said.
President Nicolas Sarkozy has said as much in a letter to counterparts, he said.
"Even if you have military control, it's not enough,'' Morin said.
"There has to be an accompanying plan that allows the Afghans to progressively create the conditions of their own development -- and thus their own autonomy -- and to take their destiny in their hands.''
He declined to confirm recent newspaper reports in Britain and France that France's government would contribute about 1,000 more troops, saying "there is no figure.''
Speculation has been widespread about whether new French troops would be deployed in southern Afghanistan, a key hub of insurgent violence.
Morin appeared to suggest, however, that Paris would not send troops to the south. A deployment to the eastern part of Afghanistan would be more contiguous with its forces in Kabul.
Canada has warned that it would pull its 2,500 troops from southern Afghanistan's dangerous Kandahar province if other NATO allies don't offer more help. Canada wants 1,000 more troops to support its anti-Taliban efforts.
More than 8,000 people died in violence in Afghanistan last year -- the highest annual toll since the U.S.-led ouster of the Taliban regime in 2001.
U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates and other senior U.S. officials have appealed to NATO allies to boost what has grown to a 43,000-strong force in Afghanistan.
U.S. officials have repeatedly vented frustration that appeals for more troops have fallen flat. Gates has warned of a fissure within the NATO alliance over the issue.
