Afghanistan: September 7, 2002

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 The US has backed the expansion of the international peacekeeping force, which is now restricted to 5,000 men in Kabul. But few nations are willing to supply troops for Afghan peacekeeping. There are only some 12,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan (the other 7,000 being American troops and a few hundred allied commandos). Afghanistan is seen as a tough peacekeeping assignment, because the locals are heavily armed and feisty. The US is trying to pull together an innovative, and high risk,  peacekeeping operation using Special Forces and Civil Affairs troops to work out local peace deals.