NATO has agreed to extend by a month a mission to airlift African troops joining peace efforts in Sudan's western Darfur region, said the African Union on Thursday.

In a statement released from the AU headquarters, the pan- African body said NATO chiefs agreed on Wednesday to prolong until the end of October its first mission on the African continent.

The statement said NATO was considering an AU request for help in training of African officers and in providing transport for future troop rotations.

It said NATO would by the end of this week have airlifted a total of 3,500 African troops, including those from Nigeria and Rwanda.

The 53-member pan-African body has deployed over 2,270 soldiers, known as the AU Mission in Sudan (AMIS), to monitor a ceasefire in Darfur.

AU is seeking 460 million US dollars in cash, military equipment and logistical support to reinforce its current troops to more than 7,700 by September.

Clashes flared up in Darfur in February 2003 when local farmers took up arms against the government, accusing it of neglecting the barren area. Thousands of people have been killed and over a million displaced in the violence.

Rounds of peace talks between the Sudanese government and Darfur rebels in Abuja have failed to yield fruit.

Source: Xinhua