KANDAHAR, July 31: Nato took command on Monday of security operations in southern Afghanistan, embarking on its most ambitious mission and hoping a new approach would break a grinding Taleban insurgency.

Nato’s International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) took authority from a US-led coalition that ousted the Taliban from government in 2001, with the occasion marked at a ceremony in southern Kandahar city.

The Nato force would continue efforts of the coalition to “provide security as well as reconstruction projects and humanitarian assistance,” Isaf said in a statement.

The transfer brings around 8,000 British, Canadian, Dutch, US and other troops under Isaf command in six provinces in the south, expanding the number of its troops nationwide to 18,000.

Isaf, which has been under Nato command since 2003, has already been operating in western and northern Afghanistan and the capital Kabul.

The move into the south demonstrates the international community’s commitment to war-ravaged Afghanistan, the commanders of both forces said.

“Nato is here for the long-term, for as long as the government and people of Afghanistan require our assistance,” Isaf commander, British Lieutenant General David Richards, said in the statement.

“Today’s transfer of authority demonstrates to the Afghan people that there is a strong commitment of the part of the international community to further extend security into the southern province,” said coalition commander Lieutenant General Karl Eikenberry.

The south, the Taleban’s heartland and from where the movement rose to take control of most of the government by 1996, sees the worst of the insurgency with regular suicide and roadside bombings, most of them directed at troops. The force is, however, hopeful it can make a difference with a stronger emphasis on rebuilding, while the coalition maintains a force focused on counterinsurgency work.—AFP