The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will assume responsibility for security over all Afghanistan by November, NATO's supreme commander said Monday.

James Jones, NATO's supreme allied commander in Europe and also the chief of U.S. European Command, told a Pentagon briefing that the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) will absorb the U.S. troops in eastern Afghanistan after it completes its current expansion into southern part of that country.

In effect, the move will shift responsibility for overall security in Afghanistan from the United States to NATO, while at the same time keeping a smaller U.S. force in the country for counter-terrorism missions, he said.

The U.S. force in Afghanistan, which is slated to draw down from 19,000 to about 16,500 in July, could shrink further with the merger, said Jones.

Calling the takeover as the "arguably NATO's most ambitious operation," he said when the ISAF takes over in Afghanistan, it will be roughly a 21,000-strong force from 36 different nations.

Jones said he expected ISAF's expansion to enter its final phase by the next NATO summit in Riga between Nov. 28 and 29.

A U.S. two-star general reporting to both ISAF's NATO commander and the U.S. Central Command will be put in charge of ISAF's security operations all over Afghanistan, according to him.

Source: Xinhua