Nato takes command of southern Afghanistan

KANDAHAR – Nato took command yesterday of international troops in southern Afghanistan, embarking on its most ambitious mission and hoping a new approach will break a grinding Taliban insurgency.

Nato’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) took authority from a US-led coalition that ousted the Taliban from government in 2001, with the occasion to be marked at a ceremony in southern Kandahar city later yesterday. The transfer brings around 8 000 British, Canadian, Dutch, US and other troops under ISAF command in six provinces in the south, expanding the number of its troops nationwide to 18 000.The move demonstrates the international community’s commitment to war-ravaged Afghanistan, the commanders of the Nato and US forces said.”Nato is here for the long-term, for as long as the government and people of Afghanistan require our assistance,” ISAF commander, British Lieutenant General David Richards, said in a statement.”Today’s transfer of authority demonstrates to the Afghan people that there is a strong commitment of the part of the international community to further extend security into the southern province,” said coalition commander Lieutenant General Karl Eikenberry.ISAF, which has been under Nato command since 2003, has already been operating in western and northern Afghanistan and the capital Kabul.In the south it will continue efforts of the coalition to “provide security as well as reconstruction projects and humanitarian assistance”, ISAF said in the statement.The size of the new force in the south – the area most troubled by the Taliban insurgency – is almost double what it was last year.The area is the Taliban’s heartland and from where the movement rose to take control of most of the country by 1996.It sees regular suicide and roadside bombings, most of them directed at Afghan and foreign troops.The violence has peaked this year, with military officials admitting the insurgents are better organised than ever.The coalition and Afghan forces have also stepped up their operations, with a new offensive called Mountain Thrust launched in the south in mid-May, killing around 1 000 rebels so far.Ten more rebels were killed Sunday in separate attacks in eastern Paktika province and in southern Uruzgan, one of the provinces that fell under Nato command yesterday, another 14 were arrested, it said.- Nampa-AFPThe transfer brings around 8 000 British, Canadian, Dutch, US and other troops under ISAF command in six provinces in the south, expanding the number of its troops nationwide to 18 000.The move demonstrates the international community’s commitment to war-ravaged Afghanistan, the commanders of the Nato and US forces said.”Nato is here for the long-term, for as long as the government and people of Afghanistan require our assistance,” ISAF commander, British Lieutenant General David Richards, said in a statement.”Today’s transfer of authority demonstrates to the Afghan people that there is a strong commitment of the part of the international community to further extend security into the southern province,” said coalition commander Lieutenant General Karl Eikenberry.ISAF, which has been under Nato command since 2003, has already been operating in western and northern Afghanistan and the capital Kabul.In the south it will continue efforts of the coalition to “provide security as well as reconstruction projects and humanitarian assistance”, ISAF said in the statement.The size of the new force in the south – the area most troubled by the Taliban insurgency – is almost double what it was last year.The area is the Taliban’s heartland and from where the movement rose to take control of most of the country by 1996.It sees regular suicide and roadside bombings, most of them directed at Afghan and foreign troops.The violence has peaked this year, with military officials admitting the insurgents are better organised than ever.The coalition and Afghan forces have also stepped up their operations, with a new offensive called Mountain Thrust launched in the south in mid-May, killing around 1 000 rebels so far.Ten more rebels were killed Sunday in separate attacks in eastern Paktika province and in southern Uruzgan, one of the provinces that fell under Nato command yesterday, another 14 were arrested, it said.- Nampa-AFP