NATO officials Thursday said they were confident the alliance would extend its forces as planned into southern Afganistan, adding that troops in the volatile region would have a "robust" mandate to defend themselves against attacks, according to Deutsche Presse Agentur (dpa). NATO spokesman James Appathurai told reporters the alliance was hoping parliament in the Netherlands would give its go-ahead to the deployment of an additional 1,200 to 1,400 troops to Uruzgan Province in south-central Afghanistan. But Appathurai insisted that while a Dutch refusal to send forces to Afghanistan would be "unfortunate," it would not stop the mission from going ahead as scheduled. Other members of the alliance and some non-members were pressing ahead with their plans for deployment, he said, adding, "The mission will go forward with the necessary number of troops and the required military contributions." The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in southern Afghanistan would also have rules of engagement allowing it to defend itself in a "robust" manner against attacks, he said. ISAF commanders on the ground would have the authority to take pre-emptive action against any suspected al-Qaeda or Taliban attackers, he said. --More 21 27 Local Time 18 27 GMT
