KABUL, Aug 6: The commander of Kabul peacekeepers said on Wednesday it was vital to provide adequate security for Afghan elections next year, but his force was too small to fill that role and appeared unlikely to be expanded.

German Lieutenant-General Norbert Van Heyst, who will hand over command to a German NATO general on Monday, said that expanding the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) into the provinces for the polls due next June would require up to 10,000 additional troops.

“I don’t see anybody who is willing to provide these soldiers,” he said.

In Germany on Wednesday, Defence Minister Peter Struck urged the expansion of ISAF beyond Kabul after NATO takes over, saying Afghanistan was at a turning point.

“It makes no sense only to operate in the capital and to have stability in the area closely surrounding it if, in the rest of the country... terrorist groups and Taliban supporters continue to exercise power,” he told public TV station ZDF.

A government spokesman said Germany was considering whether to allow its troops to operate outside Kabul and the cabinet was likely to agree a common position in September.

Van Heyst said it was more realistic to expand the role of civil and military provincial reconstruction teams (PRTs) being deployed by the 12,500-strong US-led coalition in Afghanistan.

“You don’t need 10,000 guys for PRTs. One of the missions of PRTs is to provide security, but that is done in a quite different way,” he said.

Van Heyst said each PRT team would consist of 60 to 70 coalition soldiers who would cooperate with local security forces.

“It seems to be realistic and the concept is existing and the concept has proven to be successful.”

The ISAF is charged with helping maintain security in Kabul. It is distinct from the US-led coalition that overthrew the Taliban in late 2001 and which continues to pursue remnants of that group and Al Qaeda.

Van Heyst said it would probably be preferable to have an expanded ISAF, which currently numbers about 5,000 soldiers from 31 nations.

“We are facing the elections within the next one year. To start a new concept with the expansion of ISAF, you need time and there is an existing concept.

“I personally feel that maybe it is not the best one. Maybe the expansion of ISAF would be the better way.”

Either way, it was essential for the international community to act soon to provide security for an estimated 25,000 election workers who would have to be sent out around the country.

“One of the major efforts of the next upcoming months is to try to export security from this safe haven, Kabul, into the provinces. That may be really a challenge for this country and I cross my fingers and hope that can be done very successfully.—Reuters