SLOVENIA: NATO set for early takeover of Afghan peacekeeping

NATO defence chiefs started on Thursday (September 28) a two-day meeting during which they are expected to agree to assume command of peacekeeping across all of insurgency-hit Afghanistan next month despite some allies' concerns over tactics and troop shortfalls. The move into eastern Afghanistan could take effect quickly because it would largely involve placing some 10,000, mostly U.S. forces already in the region, under NATO command giving NATO commanders a greater pool of troops and equipment. The target date is the first half of next October, said one alliance source, who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of the official endorsement of the decision by defence ministers meeting in the Slovenian coastal resort of Portoroz. The step was initially expected only at some time before year-end. But alliance officials said recent battles against resurgent NATO guerrillas in the south showed the need to pool British, Dutch and Canadian troops under NATO with separate U.S. forces. Afghanistan is experiencing the most serious violence since the hardline Taliban Islamists were ousted in 2001, and NATO knows its credibility as a genuine fighting force is at stake in what is the toughest combat in its 57-year history. Nearly 140 foreign troops, most of them American, British and Canadian, have been killed in fighting or accidents during operations since January, and NATO has acknowledged it underestimated the scale of Taliban resistance. The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) has just over 20,000 troops from 37 countries operating in the capital Kabul, north, west and south. The U.S.-led Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) coalition has a similar number. Some U.S. forces will remain outside ISAF command to mount search-and-destroy missions against major Taliban and al-Qaeda targets. Germany raised doubts over NATOs strategy in Afghanistan, insisting it must focus on providing security for reconstruction, which has been held up by the fierce violence of recent weeks. In an interview with ZDF television, German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung said it was paramount that the Afghan people understand that NATO is not an occupying force, but is there to help them. He added that NATO's strategy has got to change in this direction. Britain and the United States are expected to lead calls for allies to respond quickly to a request by commanders for up to 2,500 extra troops, more helicopters and transport aircraft to help British, Canadian and Dutch troops in the thick of violence in the south. Poland has offered 1,000 troops to be deployed by next February, and Romania is expected to offer a similar number. However large western European nations including France, Germany, Italy and Spain have all declined to send troops to the south, saying their armed forces are at full stretch elsewhere. Britain's Defence Secretary Des Browne urged allies to "step up to the plate" to meet "our collective commitment to support the government and people of Afghanistan", in a statement released before the meeting.

ITN Source | September 27, 2006

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