NATO Will Stand Up to Militants in Afghanistan, Say Officials
07 August 2006
Alliance will provide security, help government facilitate recovery efforts
Washington – NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan will not be deterred from its mission to protect the Afghan people as they work to recover from decades of war and oppression, say alliance officials.
NATO operations in the country, says the alliance’s supreme allied commander, U.S. Marine General James Jones, in an August 4 statement, “are focused on establishing a safe and secure environment in order to permit the government and international aid organizations to bring elements of reconstruction and hope for a better future to this region.”
Jones echoed an August 4 statement from NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, which pledged, “NATO will stand up to the insurgents and terrorists whose only goal is to wreck the future of Afghanistan.” (See related article.)
In August 2003, NATO took command of the ISAF, which is comprised of personnel from 37 countries and operates under a United Nations mandate. Since then, it has expanded from Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, to help the Afghan government secure 13 provinces in the country’s north and west. On July 31, the 18,500-strong ISAF took responsibility from U.S.-led coalition forces for six additional southern provinces. (See related article.)
As part of this effort, the ISAF provides troops to protect provincial reconstruction teams, groups of civilian and military experts who work with local authorities and nongovernmental aid groups to identify projects that can help communities, such as rebuilding homes, farms and critical infrastructure. (See related article.)
While working to help area residents build a better future for their families, Jones said, the alliance has come under attack from remnants of the deposed Taliban militia and foreign fighters linked to al-Qaida as well as groups tied to drug traffickers and other criminal groups opposed to the promise of peace and stability in Afghanistan.
Three Canadian soldiers were killed by militants August 3 while working, at the request of local leaders, with Afghan security forces to guard a highway near Khandahar so that farmers safely could bring freshly harvested grape crops to market. The operation, said Jones, was “exactly the type of community support and assistance our reconstruction efforts are designed to foster.”
The past several days also have seen a rocket attack on NATO’s base of operations in Kandahar, attacks on U.S. and British troops and a joint British-Afghan air and ground operation that killed 17 militants in Helmand province.
Despite these and other attacks calculated to test the alliance, said Jones, NATO will remain firmly resolved to continue its mission to help provide the stability needed as the Afghan people work to rebuild their communities and make better lives for their families. (See related article.)
"We remain dedicated to our mission and will not be intimidated by the challenges we face,” said Jones. “The opposition will not be successful in the face of a committed and capable NATO force that is willing and ready to do what is required to bring peace and security to those who have had none."
Additional information on the ISAF mission in Afghanistan and de Hoop Scheffer’s statement are available on the NATO Web site.
For more information, see Rebuilding Afghanistan.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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