July 7, 2003	Monday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 6,1424

KABUL, July 6: An advance team of Nato troops arrived in the Afghan capital Kabul on Sunday to prepare for the alliance’s first military operation in Asia, a spokesman for ISAF said.

Spokesman Thomas Lobbering said the team of computer experts will establish a network for Nato, which takes over command of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Kabul on August 11.

“The five-strong team of military computer experts flew from Germany to Kabul ahead of Nato’s takeover of the international peacekeeping mission in the Afghan capital, scheduled for August 11,” Lobbering said.

On April 17, Nato agreed to take over command from the ISAF, which currently comprises some 5,500 troops from 29 countries under German- Dutch command. It assists Afghan authorities in securing Kabul.

There are also about 11,500 US-led troops in Afghanistan hunting remnants of the Taliban regime, forced from power by a US-led offensive in late 2001, and their Al Qaeda allies.

ISAF, which operates under a United Nations mandate, has patrolled Kabul and its environs since its creation in December 2001.—dpa