Afghans Plan a New Army of 70,000

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, December 03, 2002

Afghans Plan a New Army of 70,000

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Afghanistan's president, Hamid Karzai, announced in Bonn Monday that his government would establish a streamlined national army of up to 70,000 troops, under civilian control, and conduct a redoubled campaign to disarm the militias that still roam the countryside.

"We have decided to have an army that is small, effective, well paid and in the service of the nation," Mr. Karzai said.

Mr. Karzai was attending a conference in Bonn that marked the first anniversary of an agreement reached here on a framework to move Afghanistan from the Taliban regime to a representative interim government.

The conference in Bonn, held by the German government, pointed up strides made by the Afghans, as well as their continued vulnerabilities.

Noting that security remains Afghanistan's biggest concern, Mr. Karzai signed a decree creating an Afghan National Army, a volunteer force to be trained, equipped and financed largely by the United States, with help from France and Britain.

The United States has roughly 8,000 troops in Afghanistan, still searching for Qaeda members. But as the trail grows colder, some of those troops are turning their attention to other tasks, like providing security, rebuilding schools and roads, and training soldiers.

Mr. Karzai said the factional militias in his country, which by some estimates have 700,000 members, would be disbanded within a year. Their weapons, including tanks, artillery and rocket launchers, will be collected and turned over to the Defense Ministry.

Some Afghan leaders, including the defense minister, Marshal Muhammad Fahim, had pushed for a much larger force, of 200,000.

Mr. Karzai also announced that Afghanistan's six neighbors �� Pakistan, China, Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan �� had agreed to convene in Kabul later this month to sign a declaration pledging to respect borders and not to interfere in one another's internal affairs.

Among the topics discussed in the corridors at this meeting is a proposal to deploy security forces outside Kabul, the Afghan capital. Britain, Germany and other members of the international security force have refused Afghanistan's requests to expand their operations beyond Kabul.

Under this plan, which is supported by the United States, individual countries would send small detachments of soldiers to outlying cities and the countryside. Germany and the Netherlands are scheduled to take command of the 4,800-member security force in February.

Source: Agencies

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