A Marine Air-Ground Task Force of "up to approximately 2,000 Marines" will be deployed in November, a Department of Defense statement said.

Meanwhile, Marines sent in April -- up to 3,900, according to the Pentagon -- are finishing their deployment in November and leaving Afghanistan.

That means the total US contingent of some 33,000 soldiers -- according to the latest Pentagon figures -- will shrink slightly before it grows with the arrival of reinforcements in early 2009.

In January, a US army combat brigade of some 3,700 soldiers, originally destined for Iraq, will be sent to Afghanistan to serve under the command of NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), according to the DoD statement.

In total, 5,700 US soldiers will be sent to Afghanistan and 3,900 will be withdrawn -- a net increase of 1,800, bringing the total US presence close to 35,000.

Some 70,000 foreign soldiers are currently deployed in Afghanistan as part of NATO's ISAF or Washington's Operation Enduring Freedom.

Military leaders on the ground have asked for 10,000 more soldiers to face an upsurge in Taliban violence.

President George W. Bush last week announced he was withdrawing 8,000 soldiers from Iraq and sending more troops to Afghanistan by January, when he leaves the White House.

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