UN Security Council extends its mission's mandate in Afghanistan

Tue, 22 Mar 2011

New York - The UN Security Council on Tuesday extended for another 12 months its mission's mandate in Afghanistan, adopting unanimously a resolution which was drafted by Germany.

The UN mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), with over 1,000 personnel based in Kabul, will remain until March 23, 2012 to support the government of President Hamid Karzai's transition to full security responsibility.

The council said UNAMA is also tasked with providing Kabul assistance on governance, justice, and social and economic issues.

The UN mission is to strengthen the cooperation with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and NATO, which has well over 100,000 troops in Afghanistan.

Germany has deployed 4,500 troops in ISAF and is the third largest foreign troops contributor.

Staffan de Mistura, the UN special envoy for Afghanistan and head of UNAMA, told the Security Council at a review session last week that the coming year is crucial for Kabul because it is preparing to assume greater responsibilities, particularly in the area of security and military operations.

"This is a year of sovereignty and we can't operate just as if it is business as usual," de Mistura said. "We should constantly adjust our profile and activities on the basis of Afghan-led and Afghan-owned priorities."

Earlier Tuesday, Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced a list of four provincial cities and three provinces where Afghan forces will take over security responsibility in a process to begin in July.

NATO-led international troops and US soldiers are scheduled to hand over responsibility for security to the Afghan police and military gradually, with completion of transfer set for 2014.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/372902,extends-missions-mandate-afghanistan.html.