QUEBEC CITY, Quebec Nov 17 (Reuters) - The head of the NATO military alliance on Friday urged member nations to drop the restrictions they have placed on their troops in Afghanistan, saying this was hampering the ability to fight Taliban militants. NATO currently has around 31,000 troops in Afghanistan but some member nations have placed so-called caveats on what their soldiers can do. Some are not allowed to operate at night and others have been banned from fighting altogether. The caveats have upset the United States, Britain and Canada, who complain their troops are doing most of the fighting against the Taliban in southern Afghanistan. NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer asked a Quebec meeting of parliamentarians from the 26 member nations to persuade their governments to lift the restrictions. "An operational commander can have lots of trouble if too many caveats exist in the written or unwritten form. Too many caveats limit the possibilities a commander has to use his forces," he said by video link from NATO's Brussels headquarters. "My strong plea to governments and also my strong plea to you parliamentarians would be -- please help us in lifting those caveats as much as possible ... you have an important role to play here, because really in Afghanistan it is a problem." Canadian Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor told the meeting that all NATO members had to share the Afghan burden equally and said Ottawa expected the caveats to be removed. Canada has 2,500 troops in southern Afghanistan and has lost more than 40 soldiers since 2002, most of them in the last few months. De Hoop Scheffer did not address another major problem NATO is facing, that of persuading member nations to send more troops to Afghanistan.
