NATO commits to Afghan expansion, tough mission

SOFIA, Apr 28 (Reuters) NATO backed a plan today to take foreign troop numbers in Afghanistan to their highest level since the Taliban's overthrow sending the alliance on what is set to be the toughest ground mission in its 58-year history.

The NATO strategy nearly doubles its troop numbers to more than 16,000 from July to help the United States wind down its presence in the perilous south and gives peacekeepers greater scope to engage insurgents.

Speaking after a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in the Bulgarian capital Sofia, alliance Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said they had given a strong commitment to expansion of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

They also agreed the troops would be able to employ ''robust'' rules of engagement, he said.

''Only a sustained and concerted effort will yield success,'' de Hoop Scheffer told the Sofia meeting, stressing NATO was determined to see its mission through despite a rise in violence directed at international troops.

The NATO expansion will take the numbers of foreign soldiers in Afghanistan to around 32,500 by July and August, the highest level since U.S.-led forces overthrew the Taliban in late 2001.

About half the total will be with a separate U.S.-led force hunting the Taliban and its allies since 2001.

NATO officials said there had been no consensus on when ISAF would take over responsibility from the U.S.-led force in the east of the country, where Islamist insurgents are also active.

NATO's operations commander, U.S. General James Jones, has urged this as early as August, but General Ray Henault, a Canadian heading NATO's Military Committee, told ministers it was expected by the year-end, but there was no timetable.

WORST PERIOD OF VIOLENCE NATO hopes in the coming weeks to conclude a broad cooperation agreement with the Western-backed government in Kabul under which it will offer military training, equipment and planning personnel to work in the Afghan defence ministry.

The pact will also cover support in civil emergency planning and efforts to encourage civilian control of the military, NATO officials said.

NATO's move south should help the United States, stretched by the Iraq war, wind down its troop presence in Afghanistan from 19,000 to 16,500 by around August.

It follows Afghanistan's worst period of violence since U.S.-led forces toppled the Taliban in late 2001 for failing to give up Osama bin Laden, the al Qaeda chief behind the Sept. 11 attacks on U.S. cities, who remains at large.

Afghanistan has seen a rise in Iraq-style suicide bombings and nearly 1,500 people died in insurgent-linked violence last year, including almost 60 Americans, making it the bloodiest for U.S. forces since they invaded.

Eighteen foreign troops, 13 American, have been killed this year and the guerrillas announced a spring offensive in March.

The fourth stage of ISAF expansion, into the east, could see the NATO-led force grow to 20,000-25,000. However, these will include soldiers now with the U.S.-led force and it is unclear what U.S. troop levels will be then, NATO officials said.

Britain, Canada and the Netherlands are due to lead the deployment to the south, which includes Afghanistan's main opium-growing region and most dangerous territories.

The dangers were underscored when four Canadian soldiers were killed in a roadside blast on April 22.

REUTERS CH HS1926