Canadian troops fighting the Taliban in volatile southern Afghanistan will be getting extra help from NATO countries, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Wednesday from an alliance summit in Latvia.

Harper addressed a news conference in the Latvian capital of Riga, where alliance members have agreed to make it easier to deploy troops throughout Afghanistan, as well as contribute additional troops to the NATO-led effort.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, in Latvia on Wednesday, says Canadian troops are getting more help from 'key partners in the south.'
(CBC)

"We do have important additional contributions from our partners in the south, from the Netherlands, Denmark, United Kingdom, Estonia, Romania," said Harper. "These are our key partners in the south. They also happen to be for the most part the countries that have agreed to contribute even more forces."

It's not clear exactly which countries are involved or how many troops would be sent to bolster the 32,000-strong NATO contingent.

Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay told CBC Newsworld that Poland was one of the countries and would provide 1,000 soldiers.

MacKay said he didn't know how many additional troops would be sent in total, but believed it was "more than halfway" to NATO's target goal of 2,500 extra soldiers.

NATO commanders will decide where the new soldiers will be deployed, said MacKay.

Countries loosen rules

The two-day meeting of the 26-nation alliance opened Tuesday, one day after two Canadian soldiers were killed by a suicide car bomb in southern Afghanistan on the outskirts of the city of Kandahar.

In what is being considered another victory for Ottawa at the summit, European members of NATO have agreed to loosen restrictions and make their troops available across the country in extreme circumstances.

Soldiers from key European NATO members such as France, Germany and Italy are already in Afghanistan, but are deployed in the less dangerous northern and central regions. They were under self-imposed restrictions that made it difficult to move out of their assigned areas.

It's not yet clear what would constitute emergency circumstances. MacKay said it would be up to military commanders to decide when to send extra troops.

European countries refused to send support to the south during a major Canadian-led anti-Taliban offensive in September called Operation Medusa.

The breakthrough reportedly happened during a working dinner late Tuesday.

Support reaffirmed

"It's agreed by all … that the lifting of caveats and the commitment of troops from another group of countries has to be seen as positive," said MacKay.

Canadian, American, British and Dutch troops make up the bulk of the force in the southern regions, where violence has spiralled in recent months. Canada has more than 2,000 soldiers in Afghanistan, mostly in volatile Kandahar province.

For months, Harper, MacKay and NATO leaders have called on alliance members to send more troops to the area.

The summit closed Wednesday as officials issued a joint statement reaffirming their support for the Afghan mission, the most dangerous ground combat mission in the alliance's history.

"We are committed to an enduring role to support the Afghan authorities, in co-operation with other international actors," said the document.

Moment of silence for the fallen

Since the start of the year, 36 Canadians have been killed in the Kandahar area. Forty-four Canadian soldiers have died since the mission started in 2002.

NATO delegates on Wednesday held a moment of silence to honour the fallen soldiers.

"We honour those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in defence of our values," said NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.

NATO also announced its new rapid-reaction force is ready for action. With land, sea and air capability, the 25,000-strong force will allow the alliance to respond to terror threats, failed states or regional conflicts, said de Hoop Scheffer.

With files from the Canadian Press