International Security Assistance Force

The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) is an international peacekeeping force in Kabul, Afghanistan. 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.

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 that Canadian peacekeepers (nearly half of the entire force) would not deploy outside Kabul.

On October 24, 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.

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. NATO spokesman December 2001 to June 2002: ISAF was under the command of the United Kingdom, led by Major General John McColl.

• June 2002 to February 10, 2003: ISAF was under the command of Turkey, led by Major General Hilmi Akin Zorlu; during this period, Turkish troops increased from about 100 to 1,300.
• February 10, 2003 to August 11, 2003: ISAF was under the command of Germany and the Netherlands, led by Lieutenant General Norbert Van Heyst, his Deputy was Brigadier General Bertholee of Netherlands.
• August 11, 2003 to present (indefinitely): ISAF is under the command of NATO, led by NATO Lieutenant General Goetz Gliemeroth, with Canadian Army Major General Andrew Leslie as his deputy. Canada had been originally slated to take over command of ISAF on August 11.
• Canadian Lieutenant General Rick Hillier assumed command of this NATO force on February 9, 2004, his deputy is Major General Werner Korte of Germany .

Timeline

• In February 2002 South Korea sent a medical contingent of 99 soldiers.
• 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 peacekeepers, 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.