NATO defence ministers today approved a mission to train the Afghan police in paramilitary skills in a bid to cut the force's soaring death rate, according to dpa. But they warned that heavy fighting lies ahead in the country as Western forces push deeper into areas which the Taliban once held. "We have agreed on the implementation of the NATO training mission. ... It will also include (paramilitary) gendarmerie training for the Afghan national police," NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said after two days of talks with alliance ministers in Brussels. NATO is keen to strengthen Afghanistan's security forces so that it can eventually pull its own troops out of the country. Hitherto, the alliance has focused its efforts on training the Afghan army, a mission which it says it has done to considerable effect. According to de Hoop Scheffer, Afghan forces now take the lead in more than half of all operations against the Taliban-led insurgency. But the police force, trained by individual nations and a European Union mission, "continues to lag behind the ANA in effectiveness," even though it is improving, de Hoop Scheffer said. The police force has proven to be especially vulnerable to Taliban attacks: according to NATO figures, police officers account for two thirds of all the uniformed losses in Afghanistan. "That indicates a need for more military-style training: they need the ability to fight back," Estonian Defence Minister Jaak Aaviksoo told the German Press Agency dpa. As part of a broader push to streamline their training efforts, NATO allies have therefore decided to send some 300 paramilitary troops, mainly from Italy and France, to teach the Afghan police how to survive in a firefight. "This will be done according to Afghan priorities, to help the Afghans stand on their own feet," de Hoop Scheffer said. Top officials also warned that the summer would bring heavy fighting to Afghanistan as NATO and United States reinforcements push into territory the Taliban once called their own. "I think the realistic expectation of most people is that we expect a heavy fighting season ahead," US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said after the meeting. De Hoop Scheffer echoed that concern, saying that with recent reinforcements, "we will see an intensified and an intensifying fighting season: we will see more casualties on all sides." Nonetheless, "this is worth the price. ... Losing in Afghanistan means that the guys who want to destroy your society are also destroying our society," de Hoop Scheffer said in answer to a question from an Afghan journalist.
