Hungary troops committed to 2-year Afghan mission

ISLAMABAD, Nov 8 (Reuters) Hungary has committed 200 troops to a peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan for the next two years, but it cannot increase its contribution to the NATO-led force, Foreign Minister Kinga Goncz said in Pakistan today.

''I think some other countries are considering to raise the number of soldiers being there in Afghanistan. We are just not able to do it,'' Goncz told Reuters in Islamabad, just over a week after NATO's commander in Afghanistan complained that he had too few troops to beat Taliban insurgents.

Goncz, who had earlier visited India, said her talks with the Pakistan government had focused on the situation in Afghanistan.

Hungarian troops had already come under enemy fire since deploying in the northern province of Baghlan last month, having earlier been stationed in the Afghan capital of Kabul with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

''There were some attacks close to the troops, but there were no casualties,'' Goncz said.

The Hungarians have taken on a two-year mission as a provincial reconstruction team (PRT), supporting civil programmes to train Afghan police and help education projects in Baghlan.

Like the rest of the north, Baghlan is considered relatively safe, compared with the south and east, where the Taliban has intensified attacks since NATO forces took over responsibility for patrolling the regions bordering Pakistan.

But Goncz said foreign forces in Baghlan were still targets for suicide bombers and other kinds of attacks.

ISAF has troops from 34 nations, though like Hungary, most of them have only small contingents in a force of more than 31,000.

General David Richards, the British commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, said on Oct 31 that he lacked troops to defeat the Taliban.

The United States, Britain, Canada and the Netherlands have sizable numbers deployed in the frontline southern and eastern provinces, while Romania has 750 troops in the south. Poland is sending 1,000 troops to Afghanistan in the new year.

Some 3,100 people have been killed in Afghanistan so far this year, the worst period of violence since US-backed forces ousted a Taliban government in late 2001 for harbouring al Qaeda.

For its part, Pakistan has deployed troops on the border and has begun making peace deals with Pashtun tribal areas to cut off support for militants, but it is frequently criticised for not doing enough to catch Taliban leaders based on its territory.

During talks, Goncz heard Pakistani officials suggest the possibility of fencing the border to stop insurgents moving back and forth, but the Afghan government opposes such a move because of the border's disputed status.

They also told her that the Afghan government would benefit from more ethnic Pashtun representation in positions of power.

''If there is stronger government control, In think it is the time that international forces might consider leaving the country. We know it is not this moment,'' said Goncz.

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