Scandinavians to Send Troops

Sweden and Norway will send troops to Mazar-e-Sharif early this summer as part of a plan to increase the number of international security forces in northern Afghanistan, the Swedish ambassador to Afghanistan told IWPR during a visit here.

Ambassador Ann Wilkens met Engineer Habibullah Habib, the governor of Balkh province, when she visited Mazar-e-Sharif last week. Wilkens said her visit was designed to assess the security situation in the region.

In an interview, Wilkens said Sweden and Norway are planning to send troops in May or June to assist the British-led Provincial Reconstruction Team, PRT, stationed in Mazar-e-Sharif. The PRT has focused on rebuilding security infrastructure, helping train Afghan police and defusing tensions between rival factions.

“Sweden wants to expand its military presence up in the north,” Wilkens said, adding that the Norwegians and Swedes may deploy a combined force of between 60 and 80 soldiers.

Michele Lipner, head of the Mazar-e-Sharif field office of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, UNAMA, said that troops from Sweden, Norway and Finland are expected to be deployed in the north this spring or summer. The new contingents will likely serve as military observers under the command of the British PRT, she said.

“We think their presence is required,” said Lipner.

The British PRT was established in July 2003 to help maintain security in five northern provinces. With fewer than 100 soldiers, the team’s resources have been stretched thin by long-distance patrols aimed at ensuring security and cutting down on factional clashes all across the region.

Many in Mazar-e-Sharif have welcomed PRT’s activities over the past year. But they say the largest city in northern Afghanistan needs more stability and tighter security.

“I am quite happy with the work of the British PRT over the past year, but their numbers are too small for a big city like Mazar,” said Mir Hussein, 24, a graduate of the Balkh University law faculty. “We need more forces to maintain good security.”

Wilkens said the city appeared calm and peaceful. “Everybody says the security situation is good and improving,” she said.

Sweden has been investing in education, health care and infrastructure projects in Afghanistan for more than 20 years through the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan, Wilkens said. Swedish troops have been among the international peacekeepers patrolling Kabul since the fall of the Taleban.

Local Afghan officials, including Mohammad Akram Khakrizwal, Balkh police commissioner, said they would welcome additional military forces to help promote law and order and disarmament in Mazar-e-Sharif and the surrounding area.

“The PRT has had positive activities in Mazar-e-Sharif and their presence has a strong impact on the security conditions,” said Khakrizwal. “But we still need other forces, such as NATO, to help us implement the DDR [disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration] process and form the national army.”

Captain Ed Rankin, the PRT information officer, said that bringing more international troops to the north is “a definite option”.

In a press briefing, Rankin said the British troops in Mazar-e-Sharif are likely to cease being under the command of the US-led coalition in Afghanistan and come under NATO leadership instead. He said he did not know when the changeover would occur but said “we’re looking at months, not years”. The change in leadership will likely increase British troop strength while also bringing a multinational force to the north, he said.

Details of the expansion are still under discussion, Rankin said, but the larger force could establish satellite military bases throughout the northern provinces to help maintain a security presence in remote areas. The PRT has been hard-pressed to patrol far-flung areas when factional violence is reported, because it takes hours - sometimes days - to reach them over poor or nonexistent roads.

Michele Lipner said that about 30 of the Scandinavian soldiers will be based in Faryab province and others will be stationed in Jowzjan Province. Unlike US-led coalition forces in other parts of Afghanistan, whose mission is to hunt remnants of al Qaeda and the Taleban, the troops in the north will operate as military observers and play a peacekeeping role.

“We are not looking for the Coalition. We are looking for an enhanced PRT to ensure security,” she said.

NATO took over leadership of the 5,500-member International Security Assistance Force, ISAF, that patrols Kabul in August, and commands a German PRT in the northern city of Kunduz.

Rankin said the British PRT has already had a significant impact in the north, helping to ensure stability and encouraging people to invest in the local economy. He said that the British are committed to maintaining their military presence in the area.

“Security provides the platform for reconstruction,” Rankin said. “We have ensured security; therefore we see Afghan traders and businessmen investing in the north.”

Nahim Qadery is an independent journalist with IWPR in Mazar-e-Sharif.