Kabul (Afghanistan): NATO has assumed responsibility for security across the whole of Afghanistan, taking over from US-led forces that toppled the Taliban regime five years ago.
The military alliance's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) already led forces in the north, west and south, as well as in the Capital, Kabul. On Thursday it took control of about 12,000 US troops in the east.
The commander of the NATO-led force, British General David Richards described the handover as ‘historic’ at a ceremony in Kabul also attended by President Hamid Karzai and US Lt. General Karl Eikenberry.
The move "illustrates the enduring commitment of NATO and its international partners to the future of this great country," Richards said, according to The Associated Press.
The NATO-led ISAF will expand to 14 additional provinces in eastern Afghanistan. NATO said it would take command of 12 additional provincial reconstruction teams, bringing the total number of NATO-led teams to 25.
The US remains the biggest contributor to the 31,000-strong NATO force. Britain has 5,200 troops and Germany has 2,750 troops in Afghanistan.
An extra 8,000 US troops will function outside NATO control, concentrating on hunting al-Qaeda terrorists and training Afghan forces.
"A key point to remember in this transition is that the US maintains its full commitment to Afghanistan," Eikenberry said. "As a NATO member, the US will remain by far the single-largest contributor of troops and military capability."
Since the start of the war in Afghanistan, the US military has suffered 179 fatalities.
The handover of command was expected to take place later this year, but alliance officials told Reuters that increased fighting with insurgent groups in southern Afghanistan showed the need to pool British, Dutch and Canadian troops under NATO with the US forces.
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The mission is the largest ground operation in the military alliance's history.
This year's upsurge in fighting is causing serious dislocation in southern Afghanistan, the UN refugee agency said.
The office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees issued a statement Tuesday saying "an estimated 15,000 families" have been displaced in Kandahar, Helmand and Uruzgan provinces since July.
The UNHCR says it is "concerned about the increasing number" of displaced people.
"This fresh displacement adds new hardship to a population already hosting 116,400 people earlier uprooted by conflict and drought," it said.
"We expect further displacement may take place until conditions are safe for the population to return to their homes."
It said Afghanistan's government had formed a Disaster Management Committee in Kandahar to coordinate relief efforts.
It is working with UN agencies, such as the World Food Program, and has distributed blankets, clothes and sheeting to families.
"Some families were reported to have gone back from Kandahar city to Panjwai and Zhare Dasht during daylight, but returned to Kandahar city at night as they felt it was too insecure to stay overnight," the UNHCR said.
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