Italy's foreign minister called on Thursday for a new international conference on Afghanistan, saying that coalition efforts in the country had been stretched to their limits.
Massimo D'Alema, whose country has sent 1,800 soldiers to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, will travel to Kabul on Saturday to meet Afghan authorities.
"Italy watches with concern the evolving situation and the rise of insecurity" in Afghanistan, D'Alema told a press conference after meeting European Parliament President Josep Borrell, the ANSA news agency reported.
"There is a need for a strong new international push for action, perhaps to rethink the political, economic and humanitarian lines we are working along, given that it is difficult to find a solely military solution to the current crisis," D'Alema said.
He suggested such a conference should involve "the countries of the region".
The 30,000 ISAF soldiers under NATO command have been clashing increasingly frequently with Taliban in the south since last summer and the number of bomb attacks across the country has also risen sharply.