NATO takes step towards possible expansion outside Kabul

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), as head of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, announced on Monday it had taken the first step towards possible expansion of its peacekeeping mission in the country, outside the confines of the Afghan capital, Kabul. "NATO nations have agreed on a political basis for a possible expansion of the mission beyond Kabul," a NATO spokeswoman told IRIN from Brussels. "But they did not decide that they would expand. They agreed on the basis," she emphasised. According to the NATO official, the decision taken concerned the political basis; the framework under which nations would agree to expand the mission. NATO nations would now ask military planners to draft a more detailed plan on what such an expansion might look like, which would then be taken up for consideration, she explained. "For the moment, the decision is limited to a political basis under which such an expansion could take place," she reiterated. As for media reports that up to 450 soldiers were set to be deployed to the northern provinceof Konduz, once the UN Security Council approved a wider mandate for ISAF, the NATO official replied: "We have not agreed on any figures. This is a bit premature and not what today's decision is about," noting today's decision was about the political basis and had not contained any numbers. The announcement comes less than two weeks after Afghan President Hamid Karzai met NATO Secretary-General Lord Robertson, in Scotland, who had just returned from a visit to the Afghan capital himself. During their meeting, Karzai repeated his call for NATO to consider the extension of ISAF operations outside Kabul as soon as possible. He is not alone. The United Nations, the European Union (EU) and members of the aid community have long called for such an expansion in the beleaguered state of 28.7 million. Just prior to NATO assuming command of the 5,500 strong force in August, in June, nearly 80 humanitarian, human rights and conflict prevention groups came together to call for an expanded stabilisation security role for the 19-nation alliance. According to a statement at the time from the group, the fledgling Afghan government in Kabul needed more support and resources to ensure peace and security in the country, warning that unless that was put into effect, insecurity would eventually obstruct reconstruction efforts, and the Bonn peace process risked collapse, with the proposed elections for next year being jeopardised. Since that time, security in the country has not improved, and there has been a number of incidents specifically targeting aid workers working inside the country, some of which have proved deadly.