Global Policy Forum

NATO agreed to extend an Alliance-led peacekeeping force in Afghanistan beyond the capital Kabul, to help clamp down on a recent rise in violence blamed on a resurgent Taliban. The decision, which has to be approved by the UN, would see German forces taking the lead in extending the UN-mandated International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which NATO has commanded since August.

NATO chief George Robertson will contact UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to confirm the Alliance's willingness to broaden the mandate of the 5,300-strong peacekeeping force, which is currently confined to Kabul. Beyond the Afghan capital, lawlessness reins in large parts of the Central Asian country. The NATO decision was taken by so-called silence procedure, under which NATO states had been given until 9:00 am (0700 GMT) to lodge any objections to the agreement. The silence was not broken, and therefore agreement was confirmed.

The agreement was two-fold: accord for Germany to lead a "Provincial Reconstruction Team" (PRT) in the northern town of Kunduz, and a decision "in principle to the expansion of the ISAF mission beyond Kabul," said an official. "There was a serious discussion of how we could proceed with what were very positive proposals by the Germans," he added. "Now we talk about how we are going to do it."

ISAF has been deployed in Kabul since December 2001. It was set up weeks after the defeat of the hardline Taliban regime to safeguard the capital. Twenty months on, Afghanistan's provinces are troubled by in-fighting between rival warlords and an intensified insurgency by fighters loyal to the Taliban and al-Qaeda movements.

One of the scenarios under consideration at NATO is to send between 2,000 and 10,000 troops to other Afghan cities and to multiply the number of "Provincial Reconstruction Teams" (PRTs) already active in several regions. The PRTs were set up under the leadership of the United States, whose troops are engaged in a separate hunt for al-Qaeda and Taliban diehards, as a means of extending the Western security blanket to zones outside Kabul.

The issue is taking on greater urgency as the Afghan authorities prepare to begin the potentially fraught task of disarming 100,000 militiamen across the country. In a report last week, the Brussels-based International Crisis Group think-tank said the disarmament programme would only succeed with the involvement of neutral peacekeepers. The ICG said that Afghanistan's embryonic army and police force were not ready to take charge of security across the country to support the disarmament drive, which is due to be launched on October 25. "The UN Security Council should, therefore, authorise NATO... to move out to the main provincial centres and assist (disarmament) implementation," it said.

Securing the backing of the United Nations to extend ISAF's mandate is not the only challenge confronting NATO. Getting the tools to do the job is probably a bigger headache for the military alliance. NATO member states are already stretched by peacekeeping commitments in the Balkans, not to mention the heavy involvement of US, British and Polish troops in Iraq.

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