Afghan mission: NATO to send out strong message

Brussels, June 8: NATO is widely expected to send out a strong message today it is undeterred by a rise in violence in Afghanistan and will go ahead with a virtual doubling of its peacekeeping troops in the country.

The 26-nation body has approved plans to increase troop levels to about 17,000 from 9,000 and expand into the perilous south by late July, taking the alliance into what could be its toughest ground combat since its creation in 1949.

Guerrillas have stepped up attacks in what NATO sees as an attempt to unnerve it. About 400 people were killed in May alone in the bloodiest phase of the Taliban insurgency since U.S.-backed forces overthrew the Islamist government in 2001.

''None of us ever thought this would be a stroll in the Hindu Kush (mountain range in Afghanistan),'' one senior NATO diplomat, who asked not to be named, said before Thursday's meeting of alliance defence ministers.

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

NATO officials say the recent violence has not prompted it to review existing plans to replace an estimated 3,000 U.S. troops in the south with 6,000 alliance-led peacekeepers under order to deal toughly with threats.

Critics of the mission say troop levels are too low to bring genuine security to the Afghan people and question whether the European public has been adequately prepared for the real risk of casualties.

NATO is already present in the capital Kabul, the west and north of Afghanistan.

The ministers will also review NATO efforts to reform itself from Cold War giant to a nimbler security organisation able to respond to crises in troublespots at short notice.

European member states will be pressed to set aside more troops for a NATO rapid-reaction force due to be fully operational from October this year with a total strength of 25,000.

The United States in recent weeks pledged to reserve almost 6,000 troops for the so-called NATO Response Force, but diplomats say the head count is still short..

Reuters