Observers endorse Karzai's call for more troops

Interim leader Hamid Karzai's call for the expansion of the multinational force beyond the capital Kabul has been welcomed by observers. Karzai made the call while addressing the UN Security Council in New York on Wednesday. He made a similar plea at a joint press conference with British leader Tony Blair in London on Thursday.

"This is a good omen. Security is the key to our country's recovery from years of fighting," Muhammad Zahir Babri, an Afghan journalist, told IRIN on Thursday from Pakistan's northwestern city of Peshawar. "Afghans will repatriate when they sense complete safety," he said, adding that an uncertain security situation prevented many professional Afghans from participating in their homeland's reconstruction.

He maintained that an international security presence was necessary in the five major Afghan cities of Kabul, Kandahar, Herat, Mazar-e Sharif and Jalalabad. "All major highways and airports need to be under international security cover," he said. "Even the up coming Loya Jirga [grand council] will be in danger if security is not stabilised," he warned.

Elaborating on the need for an international security presence, General Sher Muhammad Karimi, a former officer in the Afghan army, told IRIN that international assistance was required in disarming thousands of belligerent militants and training up a new Afghan security force. "Afghans will never accept disarmament until they see their security guaranteed by the international security forces," he said.

Commenting on the recent outbreak of fighting in the eastern Paktia province between rival commanders he said: "International security forces should be deployed in the eastern Afghan provinces of Paktia, Khost, Paktika and Ghazni, along with major Afghan cities to prevent tribal feuds, which are common in these areas."

Dozens of people were reported killed as fighting raged for the second day in Gardez, provincial capital of Paktia. Hostile forces of tribal leaders Badshah Khan Zadran and Saifullah were struggling to secure control of the town. Badshah Khan's brother Wazir Khan had been appointed new governor by the Afghan Interim Administration.

The UN mandated International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF) which is expected to reach a strength of 5,000, is already patrolling Kabul, leading to enhanced security there. Last week a senior UN official called for the expansion of the force into other parts of country. A figure of 30,000 troops was suggested. Karzai told the Security Council that the UN-mandated multinational force was needed until a new army and police force were in place.

"The extension of the presence of multinational forces in Kabul and expanding their presence in other cities will signal the ongoing commitment of the international community to peace and security in Afghanistan, he told Council members. The ISAF's current six-month mandate began on 20 December.