Published: September 15, 2005
NATO Security Teams Complete Expansion to Western Afghanistan
Alliance providing security, helping reconstruction efforts beyond Kabul
NATO has expanded the alliance’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) to western Afghanistan and is providing security and helping reconstruction efforts in that part of the country.
Since the ousting of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, the multinational ISAF has been assisting the new Afghan government -- under a U.N. mandate -- to provide a stable and secure environment for reconstruction and free elections. NATO, in its first mission outside the alliance’s traditional area of responsibility, took command of ISAF in August 2003.
The ISAF expansion increases NATO’s security-assistance responsibilities from the confines of the capital, Kabul, and the northern part of Afghanistan into territory encompassing as much as half of the country.
Preparations continue for a further expansion of the ISAF to the south of the country.
Source: U.S. Department of State