9 Feb. 2004

Change of command in Afghanistan News 01/02/2004 - ISAF ISAF personnel by nation Background NATO in Afghanistan Opinion Speech by NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer at the ISAF Change of Command ceremony Biographies Biography of Lieutenant-General Hillier Links International Security Assistance Force On 9 February, Canadian Lt Gen Rick Hillier assumed command of the NATO-led peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan from German Lt Gen Götz F.E. Gliemeroth in a ceremony held in Kabul. The change of command marks the beginning of the second, six-month period of NATO’s command of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. The ceremony was attended by Hamid Karzai, President of Afghanistan, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, NATO’s Supreme Allied Europe Commander, General James L. Jones, and the Commander in Chief, Allied Forces North, General Gerhard W. Back. “We know now that our future security, wherever we are, depends on Afghanistan’s security. And we will do what we must to help you, President Karzai, your government and the people of this country build a better, safer and more prosperous future,” said NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Schaeffer in his speech at the ceremony. The mission of the International Security Assistance Force, under NATO’s command, is to assist the Afghan Transitional Authority in providing stability and security in Afghanistan. NATO assumed leadership of the ISAF mission on 11 August 2003. This is the Alliance’s first ever mission outside the Euro-Atlantic area. There are more than 6,100 soldiers under ISAF command, including the Kunduz Provincial Reconstruction Team. NATO’s increased and more formal involvement in Afghanistan demonstrates its nations’ continuing long-term commitment to stability and security for the Afghan people. The Alliance is currently in the process of finalising an operational plan for a further expansion of the mission to cover wider areas of the country.