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NATO defence ministers to focus on Afghanistan in annual session

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Brussels, June 7, IRNA
NATO-Defence ministers-Afghanistan
Expansion of the mission of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Afghanistan and the upcoming NATO summit in Riga, Latvia in November will be the two main themes for discussion by defence ministers of the 26-member alliance when they meet in Brussels on Thursday.

"Defence ministers will meet as we prepare for a major expansion of the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan," John P. Colston, NATO assistant secretary-general for defence policy and planning, told reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels this afternoon.

NATO took over command and coordination of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in August 2003.

Initially restricted to providing security in and around Kabul, NATO's mission now covers about 50 percent of the country's territory and is currently in the process of further expanding its role to the volatile south of the country.

"Clearly there are real challenges which need to be addressed in Afghanistan as the headlines last week and this week continue to remind us," said Colston.

He said the meeting will be an opportunity for the ministers "to reiterate their determination to do their part to help the Afghan government."
Afghan Defence Minister Abudul Rahim Wardak will also participate in a meeting on Thursday of the 37 NATO and non-NATO countries which are contributing troops to ISAF.

Colston said ISAF's stage-3 expansion to the south will start at the end of July, when the current number of about 9,000 troops is expected to rise to about 17,000.

"We are trying to create stability in the south and there are a number of people who don't like that," he said.

Last week the Afghan capital, Kabul, was the scene of the worst anti-US demonstration and rioting since the overthrow of the Taliban in late 2001.

Angry crowds attacked a US military convoy after one of its vehicles plowed into cars causing the death of several Afghans.

Meanwhile, the Senlis Council, a London-based international security and development think-tank, in its latest report said the Taliban have retaken control of southern Afghanistan and support from the local population for the central government and international military presence has been lost.

British troops that are being deployed to southern Afghanistan this summer will need a dramatic change of strategy if a summer of civil war in southern Afghanistan is to be avoided, it warned.

NATO's role in Kosovo, support to the African Union in Darfur, the training mission in Iraq and counter-terrorism maritime surveillance mission in the Mediterranean are some of the other issues that are to be discussed in tomorrow's formal annual session of NATO defence ministers.

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