Nato to take command of Afghan peacekeeping

Nato ambassadors today agreed to provide an alliance peacekeeping role in Afghanistan by offering to command the current deployment of troops there.

Nato officials said the 19 alliance members agreed to requests made by Germany, the Netherlands and Canada that Nato should take a role in running a command headquarters for the ongoing 4,000-strong peacekeeping mission.

Germany had urged its alliance partners that Nato take over the peacekeeping operation in the Afghan capital Kabul – now under joint Dutch-German command - for the sake of consistency.

An alliance official said the new Nato role would “add stability and maintain continuity.

“There was a growing problem in having to switch command every six months, and there are only a limited number of nations that can lead such a mission,” he added.

As part of the role, Nato will send military personnel to run the military headquarters in Kabul and will provide a military commander to run the operation, which will be appointed by the alliance’s Supreme Allied Commander, US Marine Corps General James Jones.

The operation will not however be under a Nato flag, but will remain under the United Nation’s sanctioned International Security Assistance Force known as ISAF. Other non-Nato military forces will also be invited to contribute, officials said.

Nato was expected to take command of the force sometime in the late summer at the earliest, the official said.