COPENHAGEN, March 31: Nato leaders holding a summit in Bucharest this week are unlikely to fully meet the military requirements of a Nato-led force in Afghanistan, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said on Monday.

Gates said there was a “good possibility” that some allies would step forward to offer more troops for the International Security Assistance Force. But he suggested it would fall short of the three manoeuvre brigades requested by commanders.

Gates said the requirements, which also include 3,500 trainers, helicopters, and unmanned aircraft, were “pretty ambitious.” ‘’So I would be surprised if we saw commitments in Bucharest that would fully meet our requirements of the CJSOR (combined joint statement of requirements), but we’ll just keep working at it,” he said.

Gates spoke to reporters en route here from Belgium where he received briefings from Nato’s top military leaders on Afghanistan and other issues on the agenda of the April 2-4 alliance summit in Bucharest.

His visit to Denmark, the first by a US defence secretary in 10 years, came on the same day that a Danish soldier was killed and two others wounded in fighting in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand province, a Taliban stronghold.

Gates said he wanted to visit Denmark for “a signals check” before the summit and because it has been one of the most steadfast US allies in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Kosovo.

“This is an ally that, in my opinion, is really punching above its weight.

And I wanted to visit and thank them for that,” he said.

Denmark has 635 troops in the Nato-led ISAF force, most of them operating in Helmand.

Gates said he thought there would be some announcements at the summit of additional troop contributions to ISAF.

—AFP