Nato leaders will announce
the deployment of an extra 1,200 troops to Afghanistan
at a summit in Istanbul on Monday to help provide
security for elections due to be held in September.
They will also agree that Nato should
take over the command of five military-civilian
reconstruction teams in the north of the country.
Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, the secretary
general of Nato, described Afghanistan as his "priority
number one" this week.
The UN, the Afghan government and
human rights groups have criticised Nato countries for
reneging on promises to provide more troops and
equipment to the country. They say 5,000 extra troops
will be needed.
The New York-based organisation Human
Rights Watch said yesterday the allies had "utterly
failed" to help improve security around the country, and
that requests by Nato commanders for logistical support
in the form of additional helicopters and transport
aircraft had yet to be fully met by member states.
It also said the alliance should
speed up the disarmament of militias. Afghan warlords
still command tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of
armed men, as well as heavy weaponry, artillery,
missiles, and armoured vehicles.
The 6,400-strong Nato-led
international peacekeeping force in Afghanistan is
restricted to the capital, Kabul.
There are also about 17,000 American
combat troops in the country. Some European members of
Nato, including Britain, claim the US needs the warlords
to help in the fight against the remnants of Taliban or
al-Qaida fighters in Afghanistan.
They say this is one reason why the
Afghan opium poppy harvest is increasing to record
levels.
The other is that insufficient
investment has been made available to encourage growers
- and the warlords linked to them - to plant alternative
crops.
· A vehicle full of explosives
was found at Istanbul airport yesterday, just days ahead
of a Nato summit in the city. The discovery came a day
after a bomb blast in Istanbul killed four and wounded
21.
