Italy's new conservative government will be more flexible on rules of engagement for its troops in Afghanistan, who cannot now be used in a combat role, Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said in a newspaper interview.

With the United States urging allies to play a bigger role in the war against the Taliban, Frattini told La Stampa newspaper Italy would "start arguing more concretely in terms of flexibility and adaptability on the ground" at an Afghan donors' conference in Paris next month.

"How should we react if NATO asks us to be more elastic on the so-called caveat? Well, in certain situations the rules of engagement must be more flexible," Frattini, a former European Commissioner, said in the interview published today.

"It is vital for our contingent, which is about to move from Kabul to Herat, which is the international drug trafficking zone that helps finance the Taliban," said Frattini.

Italy has 2,200 troops in Afghanistan on peacekeeping and humanitarian duties in the Kabul and Herat regions. They operate under a "caveat" that rules out NATO using them in the more violent south or in front-line combat roles.

Twelve Italian soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since 2004.