Washington  - US President Barack Obama met with top advisors on Afghanistan and Pakistan Wednesday as the discussion over future strategy for the region continued to unfold in Washington.

Wednesday marked the eighth anniversary of the US-led war in Afghanistan, launched just weeks after the al-Qaeda terrorist attacks on New York and Washington on September 11, 2001.

Obama met with a team of more than 15 advisors, including US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of Defence Robert Gates and his top military commanders.

General Stanley McChrystal, the US commander in Afghanistan who has provoked controversy with his public advocacy for more troops, participated via videoconference along with the US ambassadors for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Obama already received an "informal copy" of McChrystal's request for more resources last week, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said Wednesday. NATO allies aiding the war in Afghanistan have also received a copy.

But Obama has said his decision will be based on the civilian and diplomatic tracks in the country as well as the military strategy proposed by his commanders.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the meeting was expected to last at least three hours into early evening and focus largely on Pakistan, where the military is battling a Taliban and al-Qaeda insurgency near its border with Afghanistan.

It is the third such gathering of Obama's national security team. Another similar meeting on Friday is likely to focus on Afghanistan, though a decision on strategy for the region remains weeks away.

"This is a test for our country to adequately address and correctly address the extremist threat that emanates from Afghanistan and Pakistan," Gibbs said. "It's one the president takes seriously and one the president is going to use his time to get right."

On Tuesday, Obama met with Congressional lawmakers. Some Republicans are openly pushing for escalation of troop numbers as Obama tries to respond to the Taliban's growing momentum in the conflict. Some of Obama's own Democrats meanwhile oppose more forces.

McChrystal publicly advocated for an added 40,000 troops last week in London. The Republicans on Tuesday warned that Obama cannot wait too long to come to a decision.

"It's pretty clear that time is not on our side," said Senator John McCain, Obama's rival for the presidency in the 2008 elections. "We need to act with deliberate haste."

The US death toll in Afghanistan during the last year has been the highest since the war began on October 7, 2001, weakening support for it with the American public. Nearly 800 soldiers have been killed since the conflict began.

Shortly after taking office, Obama ordered an additional 21,000 troops to Afghanistan, raising the US presence to more than 60,000.

Gates has not said whether he supports more forces, but acknowledged that the failure to deploy more troops to Afghanistan earlier allowed the Taliban to get back into the fight.

"Because of our inability and the inability, frankly, of our allies, to put enough troops into Afghanistan, the Taliban do have the momentum right now," Gates said this week. (dpa)