Poland will increase the number of its anti-terrorism forces to 2,000 in the next three years to better protect the key U.S. ally in Iraq from potential attacks, the defence ministry said on Wednesday. Warsaw will increase the number of special military police detachments to four from one. The groups will serve in the country during and contribute to international peacekeeping missions, Defence Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski said. "These forces will help us fulfil our treaty obligations with our allies and here, they will always be an important element helping out in emergencies," he told a news conference. Poland's engagement in Iraq, where it leads a multinational coalition of 8,000 forces including 2,500 of its own soldiers, makes it a potential target for extremists, even though Warsaw says it does not know of any specific threats. "Today there is no direct threat (against Poland). If such signals come to light...then we will react accordingly, but today Poland is not directly threatened by a terrorist attack," Szmajdzinski said. He did not rule out groups from the detachments going to Iraq, but would not comment any further. The detachments will be placed in the centre, south and west of the country, with one already in existence in Warsaw since January this year.
