London, Jan. 18: With violence in Afghanistan on the rise, NATO is struggling to fill holes in its fighting force.

Given this scenario, the United States and Germany have announced that both would be sending additional troops to the war-ravaged landlocked country.

Washington has confirmed that it will be sending an additional 3,200 troops, while Germany will replace a departing Norwegian unit.

Some countries are calling it the Afghanistan "surge", but NATO commanders in Afghanistan have spent months begging for additional troops to augment the 41,700 alliance soldiers currently there.

News reports coming out of Germany indicate that Berlin is planning to send a 250-strong fighting force to Afghanistan this summer.

The 3,200 additional American marines to be sent to Afghanistan by April, will join the 27,000 Americans already fighting in Afghanistan. Commanders in Afghanistan have said they need at least 7,500 extra troops to address the growing violence in that country.

The Bush Administration has said that it expects its NATO allies to take more of the slack. (ANI)