The Australian government is considering sending more troops to Afghanistan and Australian Prime Minister John Howard will make an announcement about this next week, Australian Defense Minister told reporters Friday.

Currently, Australia has 300 troops in special forces task group operating separately in Afghanistan's Oruzgan Province. There is also another 100 personnel operating two Chinook helicopters.

"Australia is preparing to send in further reinforcements to cope with the worsening security situation in the region," Defense Minister Brendan Nelson indicated.

"At the moment, apart from Chinook helicopters, we are considering the possibility of increasing our security numbers," he said, adding "we're getting people ready for further deployment to Afghanistan and we believe there is an argument for increasing our numbers in terms of close protection."

Source: Xinhua