Afghan army to nearly double in size: U.N.

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan's fledgling national army, seen as the key to the country's long term security, is to substantially increase its size to 134,000 soldiers, the U.N. said on Wednesday.

There are currently around 70,000 soldiers in the Afghan army.

"The Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board (JCMB), meeting today in Kabul, agreed the expansion of the Afghan National Army - increasing its strength to 134,000 personnel," the U.N. said in a statement.

The JCMB, which consists of Afghan government officials and representatives of donor nations, was formed following the agreement of the Afghan Compact in January 2006, a five-year framework for international cooperation with Afghanistan.

Violence is rising in the war-torn nation with more than 2,500 people, including 1,000 civilians, killed in the first six months of this year, aid agencies said.

Foreign troop casualties hit the highest mark in August since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion.

"I welcome the decision taken today to expand the Afghan National Army," said the U.N.'s special envoy Kai Eide who co-chairs the board along with an Afghan representative.

"This increase is a huge step towards ensuring the Afghan government has the number of soldiers it needs and that it can gradually take over the responsibility for the security of the country," he said.

More than 70,000 foreign troops are stationed in Afghanistan and while military leaders say they can help suppress a resilient insurgency, the key to security is strengthening the Afghan security forces.

On a visit to Afghanistan last month, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Britain would put more resources into training the Afghan army and said that given the size of the country, the army would need to be higher than 120,000 soldiers.

(Writing by Jonathon Burch; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani and Keith Weir)