NYT/Reuters: NATO Takes Over Afghan South

[DeepModem Mom]

NATO Takes Over Afghan South
By REUTERS
Published: July 31, 2006

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A bomb in a police car killed at least eight Afghans on Monday as NATO forces took control of security in southern Afghanistan to begin one of the biggest ground operations in the alliance's history.

The blast occurred in the eastern city of Jalalabad, far from the transfer-of-command ceremony on a base outside the southern city of Kandahar.

Afghanistan is going through its bloodiest phase since a Taliban government was ousted in 2001, and the guerrilla insurgency is concentrated in the south and east.

Having handed over the south, the U.S.-led coalition is expected to transfer responsibility for the east to NATO at the end of the year....

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Until now, NATO has been in charge of security in the capital, Kabul, and the safer north and west of the country, and the mission covering six southern provinces could become the most dangerous in the alliance's 57-year history....

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/news/news-afghan.html

[bemildred]

1. Why does NATO still exist, anyway?

Does it still guard the Fulda Gap?