/ 28 September 2006

Nato seek early takeover of Afghan peacekeeping

Nato defence chiefs were set on Thursday 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 under Nato command about 12 000 mostly United States forces already in the region.

Nato defence chiefs were set on Thursday 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 under Nato command about 12 000 mostly United States forces already in the region, giving Nato commanders a greater pool of troops and equipment.

It would make the US by far the largest contributor to the Nato Afghan force, providing 14 000 troops of a total 32 000. At present, European nations provide the bulk.

”The target date is the first half of next month,” 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 the end of the year. Alliance officials said battles with resurgent guerrillas in the south showed a need to pool British, Dutch and Canadian troops under Nato with separate US forces.

Asked if the US soldiers could be used to bolster Nato efforts in the south that are suffering from troop and equipment shortfalls, Nato spokesperson James Appathurai said he knew of no limits imposed by Washington on where they could go.

”But that doesn’t mean the shortfalls in the south don’t have to be addressed,” he told a news briefing.

Afghanistan is experiencing the most serious violence since the hard-line 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. — Reuters