The NATO-led multinational force will increase its use of a US military base in Kyrgyzstan to maintain peace and stability in neighboring Afghanistan, a NATO envoy said on Monday.

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) has played an important role in curbing the expansion of extremism in Central Asia and in the world at large, Robert Simmons, NATO's envoy for the Caucasus and Central Asia, told a press conference in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek.

"I'm sure that there will have to be an increased use at the Kyrgyz base as the use of the base in Uzbekistan declines," said Simmons, referring to the US base near the Manas International Airport.

The envoy also pledged to provide military assistance to Kyrgyzstan's new government, including training military personnel and participation in NATO's meetings on regional security and border control.

The 20,000-strong US-led coalition forces and the 10,000-strong ISAF have been using bases in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan to back the war against terror in Afghanistan since 2001.

In July, Uzbekistan asked US troops to leave the country in the next six months after the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which includes Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, called on the US to pull its military bases out of its member states.

Source: Xinhua