Washington, Oct 21 (IANS) The Pentagon said Tuesday it will send three brigades and a squadron of MV-22 Ospreys aircraft to Afghanistan as part of a regular troop-rotation plan.
The deployment includes two active duty army brigades totaling 7,700 troops and a National Guard brigade with 3,500 troops, the Pentagon said on its website.

The scheduled rotation for these forces will begin in the spring of 2010.

In addition, a squadron of MV-22 Ospreys aircraft will be sent to Afghanistan beginning next month.

Meanwhile, the US decision-makers are still debating on future direction of the Afghan strategy.

On one hand, top military leaders and Republicans are pressing US President Barack Obama to act quickly to increase the present 68,000-troops level by at least 40,000.

Meanwhile, senior White House advisors are reportedly pushing back the request for sending large number of additional troops, saying the US should instead focus to expedite military training of the Afghan forces and eliminate Al Qaeda leaders, Xinhua reported.

As the casualty toll grows and public support for the Afghan war wanes, Obama is carrying out a major strategy review of his Afghanistan policy.

The White House said a final decision is still weeks away.