International Security Assistance Force

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French Army forces, 4èmes chasseurs (27th mountain infantry brigade), in Afghanistan in 2004, passing a woman in a burka.

The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) is an international stabilization force in Kabul, Afghanistan consisting of about 9000 personnel. Authorized by the United Nations Security Council in December 2001, the ISAF was charged with securing Kabul and its nearby Bagram air base from Taliban and al Qaida elements and factional warlords, so as to allow for the establishment and security of the Afghan Transitional Administration headed by Hamid Karzai.

Contents

1 Jurisdiction
2 Structure
3 Command
4 Contributing nations

4.1 NATO nations
4.2 Partner nations
4.3 Non-NATO / Non-

5 Timeline
6 Further reading
7 See also
8 External links

Jurisdiction

For almost two years, the ISAF mandate did not go beyond the boundaries of Kabul. According to General Norbert Van Heyst, such a deployment would require at least an extra ten thousand soldiers. The responsibility for security throughout the whole of Afghanistan was to be given to the newly-constituted Afghan National Army. However, on October 13, 2003, the Security Council voted unanimously to expand the ISAF mission beyond Kabul. Shortly thereafter, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien said that Canadian soldiers (nearly half of the entire force at that time) would not deploy outside Kabul.

On October 24, 2003, the German Bundestag voted to send German troops to the region of Kunduz. Around 230 additional soldiers are deployed to that region, marking the first time that ISAF soldiers operated outside of Kabul.

After the Afghan National Assembly and Provincial Council elections in the fall of 2005, the Canadian base Camp Julien closed and remaining Canadian assets have moved to Kandahar as part of Operation Enduring Freedom in preparation for a significant deployment in January 2006.

Structure

ISAF Troops deployed within Kabul are designated as the Kabul Multinational Brigade. The brigade is composed of three battle groups, and is in charge of the tactical command of deployed troops. ISAF headquarters serves as the operational control center of the mission. NATO/ISAF also commands nine Provincial reconstruction teams (PRTs), with the aim of improving security and to facilitate reconstruction outside Kabul. The nine PRTs (and lead nations) are based at Baghlan (Netherlands), Chaghcharan (Lithuania), Farah (US), Feyzabad (Germany), Herat (Italy), Kunduz (Germany), Mazar-i-Sharif (UK, then Denmark/Sweden), Meymaneh (UK, then Norway), Qala-e Naw (Spain).

Years of conflicts have left Afghanistan heavily mined; here a demining robot of the French Foreign Legion combat engineers.

Not all demining is achieved by robot; here, human demining.

Command

ISAF command rotated among different nations on a 6-month basis. However there was tremendous difficulty securing new lead nations. To solve the problem, command was turned over indefinitely to NATO on August 11, 2003. This marked NATO's first deployment outside Europe or North America. That day, Nicholas Burns, the U.S. ambassador to NATO wrote in the Wall Street Journal that the mandate of ISAF should be expanded beyond the capital Kabul. One option he suggested would be for NATO to participate in U.S.-led "Provincial Reconstruction Teams" which were already active in trying to enforce security outside Kabul. As of June 30 2005, many Provincial Reconstruction Teams are active in the country and under the command of different NATO nations.

The history of ISAF command is as follows:

December 2001: Major General John McColl,United Kingdom
June 2002: Major General Hilmi Akin Zorlu, Turkey. During this period, Turkish troops increased from about 100 to 1,300.
February 10, 2003: Lieutenant General Norbert Van Heyst, on behalf of Germany and the Netherlands. His Deputy was Brigadier General Bertholee of Netherlands.
August 11, 2003: ISAF was under the command of NATO, led by NATO Lieutenant General Goetz Gliemeroth, Germany, with Canadian Army Major General Andrew Leslie as his deputy. Canada had been originally slated to take over command of ISAF on August 11.
February 9, 2004: Lieutenant General Rick Hillier, Canada, with Major General Werner Korte of Germany as deputy. During this timeframe, Canada was the largest contributor to the ISAF force, contributing 2,000 men.
August 7 2004: General Jean-Louis Py, commander of Eurocorps, a multinational rapid reaction force composed by units from France, Germany, Spain, Belgium and Luxemburg. Canada reduces its forces to about 800 men
February 2005: General Ethem Erdagi, Turkey
August 5 2005: Italian general Mauro del Vecchio assumed command of the ISAF force in Afghanistan. During 2005 Italy commanded four multinational military operations: in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Kosovo and Albania.
May 4 2006: United Kingdom Lieutenant General David Richards assumed command of the ISAF IX force in Afghanistan.

Contributing nations

The following NATO and non-NATO nations are contributing troops to the ISAF. The numbers are based in part from [here]; when more recent numbers are available they are given.

NATO nations

Slovenian Armed Forces patrol in Kabul

Belgium - 616
Bulgaria - 37
Canada - 85 (plus 2200 in Kandahar as part of Operation Enduring Freedom). Three Canadian soldiers were killed as part of ISAF (one in a suicide bombing and two in a roadside bombing) in the Afghan capital Kabul (with another 13 as part of OEF).
Czech Republic - 17
Denmark - 122. Three were killed in an ordnance disposal explosion along with two Germans.
Estonia - 10
France - 742 ; the fourth largest ISAF contingent. Three French soldiers have been killed as part of ISAF: one in a landmine explosion and two in a vehicle accident. Four others have died under OEF: one in a mine explosion, one to smalls arms fire, and two in an unspecified hostile incident.
Germany - 3,000, making Germany the largest contributor to the ISAF. 18 have been killed: 7 in an accidental helicopter crash, 4 in ordnance disposal explosions, one in a vehicle accident and 6 in ambushes and attacks.
Greece - 171, some stationed at Kabul airport and others at hospitals. There are around 130 soldiers and 45 air force personnel. At least two were wounded in a suicide attack in November 2005.
Hungary - 159
Iceland - 20
Italy - 506. Five have died: one in a vehicle accident, one as a result of an accidental weapon discharge, one in an accidental civilian plane crash, and two in a roadside bombing.
Latvia - 9
Lithuania - 115
Luxemburg - 10
Netherlands - 1353 (June 2006) more will follow when Uruzghan is placed under ISAF control in August.
Norway - 450 - 1 Norwegian soldier killed in an ambush in Kabul, 2004. Several others wounded in hostile and non-hostile acts spanning 2001-2006 (ISAF and OEF).
Poland - 5
Portugal - 21. One soldier was killed when his vehicle was struck by an exploding roadside bomb.
Romania - 72. Four have been killed: One in a firefight which later claimed the life of another badly wounded soldier, one in a landmine explosion, and one in a roadside bombing which severely damaged a Romanian tank.
Slovakia - 17
Slovenia - 49 (May 2006)
Spain – Approximately 800. 17 died in a helicopter crash in August 2005, while 62 Spanish soldiers were killed in May 2003 when their plane crashed in Turkey as it was returning home.
Turkey – 825 ; the third largest contingent and the only Muslim country in the ISAF. Turkey's responsibilities include providing security for Kabul and western regions of the country, as well as providing reconstruction teams.
United Kingdom – 461. The UK was one of the first countries to join the US-led coalition into Afghanistan. Five soldiers have died as part of ISAF: one committed suicide, one was murdered by a comrade, one was killed in an accidental weapon discharge, one in an ambush by guerillas, and one in a suicide bombing. Three others died under OEF, one of which was due to hostile action.
United States - 89

The contrast between Western soldiers and the Afghan population is striking.

Partner nations

Albania - 22
Austria - 3
Azerbaijan - 22
Croatia - 45
Finland - 61
Macedonia – 20
Ireland - 10
Sweden - 85 soldiers. One soldier from an elite unit was killed in an attack on 25 November, 2005; while a seriously wounded comrade died of his wounds several days later. The Swedish parliament voted in the beginning of December 2005 to double the force.
Switzerland - 4

Non-NATO / Non-
New Zealand - 50 Special Air Service troops in southern Afghanistan. A few have been wounded.

Timeline

In February 2002 South Korea sent a medical contingent of 99 soldiers.
Between February and July 2002, Portugal sent a sanitary team and an air team to ISAF.
In November, 2002 ISAF, consisting of 4,650 troops from over 20 countries, was led by Turkey. Around 1,200 German troops were serving in the force alongside 250 Dutch soldiers operating as part of a German-led battalion.
In March, 2003 ISAF was comprised of 4,700 troops from 28 countries.
On June 7, 2003 in Kabul, a taxi packed with explosives rammed a bus carrying German ISAF personnel, killing four soldiers and wounding 29 others; one Afghan bystander was killed and 10 Afghan bystanders were wounded. The 33 German soldiers, after months on duty in Kabul, were en route to the Kabul International Airport for their flight home to Germany. At the time, Germans soldiers made up more than 40% of ISAF.
A study by Care International in the summer of 2003 reported that Kosovo had one peacekeeper to 48 people, East Timor one for every 86, while Afghanistan has just one for every 5,380 people.
August, 2003, ISAF consisted of 5,000 troops from more than 30 countries. About 90% of the force were contributed by NATO countries. 1,950 were Canadian, by far the largest single contingent. However, other reports suggested that about 2,000 German troops were involved. Romania had about 400 troops at the time.
As late as November, 2003, the entire ISAF force had three helicopters.
In May 2004, Turkey sent three helicopters and 56 flight and maintenance personnel to work in ISAF.
In July 2004, Portugal sent 24 soldiers and one C-130 Hercules cargo plane to assist ISAF
In August 2004, Britain announced that 6 Royal Air Force Harrier GR7 jets from No. 3 Squadron would deploy to Afghanistan, marking the first time RAF fighter jets have been deployed to the country. They fully arrived in September.
In September 2004, a Spanish battalion (about 800 men) arrived to provide the ISAF Quick Reaction Force, and an Italian battalion (up to 1,000 troops) arrived to provide the in-theatre Operational Reserve Force. With a force of 100, Georgia became the first Commonwealth of Independent States country to send an operational force to Afghanistan.
In May 2005 ISAF Stage II took place, doubling the size of the territory ISAF was responsible for. The new area was the former US Regional Command West consisting of Bagdis, Farah, Ghor, and Herat Provinces.
On January 27, 2006, it was announced in the British Parliament that a NATO International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) would be replacing the U.S troops in Helmand province as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. The British 16th Air Assault Brigade would be the core of the force in Helmand Province.
In March 2006, the Netherlands expands its troop contribution.
On May 22, 2006, A British Army WAH-64 Apache gunship fired a hellfire missile to destroy a French armoured jeep that had been disabled during a firefight with Taliban forces in North Helmand province the previous day, as it was decided that attempting to recover the vehicle would have been too dangerous. This is the first time UK Apaches have opened fire in a hostile theatre and this would be, in a fashion, the WAH-64's first "combat kill".

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