NATO took command of international peacekeepers tasked with enforcing security in the Afghan capital, heralding the 54-year-old alliance’s first mission outside Europe.

Nato was taking command of the 5,000-strong international peacekeeping force in Afghanistan’s capital today, a historic move that marks the alliance’s first operation outside Europe since it was created 54 years ago.

Suicide bombers are being trained to carry out attacks on foreign troops deployed in Afghanistan, the Interior Minister said today.

Four German soldiers were killed and nine others seriously injured when a suicide attacker detonated a car bomb in an attack on peacekeepers in Afghanistan today, German Defence Minister Peter Struck said.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder cautiously welcomed the Anglo-American pledge that the UN should have a “vital role” in rebuilding Iraq, a demand Berlin has raised repeatedly in recent days.

Germany today threatened to withdraw its crew members from Nato surveillance planes that are patrolling Turkish airspace if Ankara sent troops into Iraq.

THE United States clashed openly with reluctant European allies yesterday, rejecting a last-ditch peace plan to send UN troops to Iraq along with a beefed-up team of weapons inspectors.

Nato must quickly refocus its military muscle so it can “root out and destroy” threats from terrorists or renegade states, the alliance head told defence ministers today at the start of talks to overhaul the 53-year-old organisation.

GERMANY faced the prospect of economic stagnation yesterday after Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder won Sunday's election with a reduced majority that narrowed his scope to implement painful reforms.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder urged the world to stand united against terrorism today and renewed a pledge to help the United States find the killers.