BERLIN, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Germany said on Wednesday it would send extra combat soldiers to northern Afghanistan as part of a NATO Quick Reaction Force to replace a Norwegian unit of 250 troops.

"As to the succession of the Norwegian Quick Reaction Force, there is a readiness from our side now to fulfil this duty because we consider it a military necessity to have such a quick reaction force in the north in the future," German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung told reporters.

"This will happen in the summer of this year from our side," he said, referring to the decision which had been widely expected.

Germany has so far rejected mounting pressure from NATO and especially the United States to send troops to the dangerous South of Afghanistan where U.S., British, Dutch and Canadian soldiers are fighting a fierce Taliban insurgency.

Under its parliamentary mandate, Germany can send 3,500 soldiers to the less violent North as part of the roughly 40,000-strong NATO International Security Assistance Force.

The German announcement coincided with a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza rice to London where she is discussing strategy on Afghanistan. (Reporting by Kerstin Gehmlich, Editing by Matthew Jones)

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