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London/Vienna: Nato faced one of its greatest tests since the Cold War on Friday after America accused Germany of failing to fight the Taliban and urged Berlin to send more combat troops to Afghanistan.
All of Nato's 26 member states agreed to mount the mission in Afghanistan and 42,000 troops have been deployed in the country.
However, only four Nato members - UK, US, Canada and the Netherlands - have sent large numbers of soldiers to southern Afghanistan, where the Taliban insurgency is strongest. These countries, notably Britain with 7,800 troops, are conducting the lion's share of the campaign against the Taliban. Germany has 3,200 troops in Afghanistan - but they are deployed in the relative safety of the north.
America has now asked Germany to send about 1,000 combat troops to southern Afghanistan. Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, made the demand in a lettert.
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