Nato members have brokered a deal today on a US call for direct attacks on the Afghan drugs trade that the alliance's military commander said is key to bringing security to the country, the alliance said.
Nato operations commander General John Craddock has asked for the alliance force in Afghanistan to be allowed to attack laboratories, trafficking networks and drug lords to stem a trade that helps fund the Taliban insurgency.
A Nato spokesman said Nato defence ministers reached an agreement that tougher action by the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) could be taken based on requests by the Afghan government and UN Security Council resolutions under the alliances current operations plan.
"ISAF can act in concert with the Afghans against facilities and facilitators supporting the insurgency subject to the authorisation of respective nations," James Appathurai said after discussions among the ministers in Budapest.
Germany and some other Nato states including Spain, have been wary of extending the role of the Nato mission. Berlin is concerned it could worsen the violence and increase the risk to its forces, which although stationed in the quieter north patrol trafficking routes out of Afghanistan.
At the Budapest meeting, Afghan Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak fully backed Mr Craddock's call for more robust Nato action.
Proponents say the plan is essential if Nato is to reduce violence. US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said yesterday the drugs trade brought the Taliban $60-$80 million a year.
Nato Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has also called for action, saying that drug money was being used to buy weapons that kill Nato soldiers.
Commander Craddock and Mr Gates argued tackling the narcotics business was a fundamental part of the strategy to defeat the Taliban and allow the Afghan government to establish control throughout the country.
"Nato is charged with a safe and secure environment," Craddock told Reuters in an interview on Thursday. "You cannot have a safe and secure environment with a scourge of narcotics rampant."
The top US military officer, Navy Admiral Mike Mullen, warned today that violence in Afghanistan would escalate in 2009 unless the United States and other countries moved quickly to counter an intensifying Taliban insurgency with troops and assistance.
Reuters