Kabul: NATO troops on Monday assumed command of military operations in volatile southern Afghanistan from the US-led coalition, marking the first time the alliance has conducted land combat operations.
A NATO-led force, made up mostly of British, Canadian and Dutch troops, took over in the south from a US-led anti-terror coalition that was first deployed nearly five years ago to unseat the hardline Taliban regime for harboring Osama bin Laden.
The mission is considered the most dangerous and challenging in the Western alliance's 57-year history. It coincides with the deadliest upsurge in fighting in Afghanistan since late 2001 that has left hundreds of people, mostly militants, dead.
"Today's transfer of authority demonstrates to the Afghan people that there is a strong commitment on the part of the international community to further extend security into the southern region's provinces," a NATO statement quoted Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, commander of US-led coalition forces, as saying.
The alliance's 8,000-strong NATO deployment in the south includes some US troops and will be under the command of British Lt Gen David Richards. Officials said Richards effectively becomes the first non-US general to command Americans forces in combat operations.
"In one sense it is historical," Richards told reporters yesterday on the eve of assuming command.
"But also it is important for the world that Afghanistan is not allowed to be tipped back to its pre-9/11 state and allow a Taliban lookalike government with its sympathies to come back into power."
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