Nato boosts troops for Afghan poll

Nato has said 4,000 more troops will be needed in Afghanistan to safeguard presidential elections, which are due to be held in August.Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, the Nato sectretary-general, said in a meeting with Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, in the capital Kabul on Wednesday that elections required extra troops to maintain security."Of course these elections, in a certain way, will be a challenge," Scheffer said. "But we are to meet this challenge because every Afghan citizen should have the right, wherever he is, to go to the polls. "We will bring extra forces before, during and after the elections to make this possible, so I think is's viable." The United Nations has said around 5,000 people, including more than 2,000 civilians, were killed in fighting in Afghanistan last year alone.