Italy vows more hardware for troops in Afghanistan

ROME (Reuters) - Italy vowed on Sunday to supply more military hardware to its troops in Afghanistan after three more soldiers were wounded in attacks, prompting a member of the ruling coalition to call for the contingent to be withdrawn.

Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said two attacks on Saturday in western Afghanistan, which left three Italian soldiers injured, were a confirmation the Taliban was intensifying violence before the August 20 presidential election.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's center-right government has already committed to strengthening its presence in the NATO peacekeeping force to around 3,300 troops ahead of the poll.

"There is visibly an escalation (in violence). The attacks of the latest hours demonstrate that," Frattini told Corriere della Sera in an interview published on Sunday.

"We will increase the use of Predator (unmanned surveillance aircraft) and Tornado (fighters), not just for reconnaissance but for real coverage (of troops)."

He also said Italy would reinforce the armor of its Lince troop carriers and send new generation armored vehicles.

This month, Corporal Alessandro Di Lisio became the 14th Italian soldier killed in Afghanistan when his convoy was hit by a roadside bomb near the western town of Farah.

In NATO-ally Britain, rising military deaths in Afghanistan have prompted concern that soldiers lack the necessary equipment. Army chiefs have called for more troops, helicopters and armored vehicles to reduce casualties, but Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said the mission has the resources it needs.

Umberto Bossi, leader of the Northern League party which forms a crucial part of Italy's ruling center-right coalition, said the results of the Italian presence in Afghanistan did not justify the high costs involved.

"I would bring them all home," Bossi said, asked about the latest troops wounded.

Berlusconi has insisted the Italian contingent, the sixth largest in the NATO mission, was essential "for the stability of a strategic region."

The commander of Italian forces in Afghanistan, General Rosario Castellano, said tensions could increase ahead of the elections but the violence was a sign of desperation by insurgents who were being pushed out of areas they controlled.

"The attacks on NATO forces show that the strategy put in place by the international coalition is working," he said in a statement.

(Reporting by Daniel Flynn; editing by Philippa Fletcher)