Peacekeepers can operate beyond Kabul

The United Nations Security Council on Tuesday adopted a resolution that would allow international peacekeepers to operate beyond the Afghan capital Kabul.

The resolution, which was passed unanimously, would extend the NATO led force's area of operations to several provinces, which are now ruled by armed warlords. 

The UN measure comes a day after the Hamid Karzai government announced a law to ban armed factions from contesting the elections, tentatively slated for June next year. This would affect several provincial warlords as well as Karzai's defence minister Mohammad Qaseem Fahim, 

Last week, Abdul Rashid Dostum's mainly Uzbek forces and rival Ata Mohammad's Tajik forces clashed with heavy weapons, including artillery, in their attempts to gain control over  Mazar-e Sharif, about 310 km north of Kabul.  A ceasefire was finally brokered by Afghan Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali and British Ambassador Ron Nash who flew to the region on Thursday.

Remnants of the former Taliban regime still regularly challenge government forces in the provinces, and aid agencies have refused to operate in many areas due to the lack of security. 

NATO assumed command of the 5,300 strong International Stabilisation Force -- mostly German and Canadian soldiers -- in Afghanistan in August.  This is separate from the operation against Taliban and Al Qaeda remnants in southern and eastern Afghanistan by US forces.   

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