The Alliance will take over the International Stabilisation Force (ISAF) in the war-scarred country, in the first "out-of-area" mission - meaning beyond its tradition European theatre of activities - in NATO's 54-year history.

But even as troops train for the August 11 handover to NATO command, calls are multiplying for the force to be extended from Kabul and its immediate surroundings to cover other parts of Afghanistan.

An extension of the force's mandate seems however unlikely any time soon, inciting NATO commanders to look at other ways to boost ISAF's influence, such as working more closely with so-called US sponsored "provincial reconstruction teams" (PRTs) some of which are already on the ground.

But some diplomats at NATO caution against "building up false hopes", while others say it is "premature" to talk about extending ISAF beyond it's current area of deployment, considering the lack of means.

NATO decided in April to take command of ISAF, which will remain under a UN mandate. The current 4,700 strong force was deployed at the end of 2001 after the fall of the Taliban to US attacks following the September 11 terrorist attacks, and is currently jointly led by Germany and the Netherlands.

In the rest of the country, the United States has about 8,500 troops under Operation Enduring Freedom.

The growing insecurity in Afghanistan was highlighted last week when a US soldier was killed and two others wounded after being attacked on patrol in Afghanistan's restive southeast region. Earlier this month several people were killed when an explosion hit an ISAF troops' bus in Kabul.

NATO's top commander in Europe, US General James Jones last week designated the commanders of the Alliance-led force as German General Goetz Gliemeroth and Canadian major-general Andrew Leslie.

Military commanders are currently battling to fill the "shortfalls" in force in time for the handover in less than a month and a half's time.

"Preparations are well underway, it is going pretty well. The problem at the moment is not the number of troops - we have them - but the logistical aspects," such as transport, said one diplomat.

At the same time, commanders acknowledge that "pressure is building up" over the issue of ISAF's mandate.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, UN officials as well as non-governmental organizations want the force's geographical mandate to be extended, at a time when the security situation is deteriorating on the ground.

But British General Sir Jack Deverell, in charge of planning NATO's takeover of the Afghan force, said the issue was more than about geography.

"We need to get away from the idea that Isaf's influence is simply defined by a line in the ground," he said, speaking recently at NATO's Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in Mons, Belgium.

"What we need to do is expand Karzai's area of influence and use ISAF... to help him do that," he added.

Military commanders are therefore studying ways of boosting links between ISAF and the PRTs, whose aim is to help the central government strengthen its authority in the provinces through reconstruction programmes spearheaded by the military.

"How that works is not clear," admitted Deverell.

The aim is to deploy 16 PRTs across the country. Three are already in place, in the central region of Bamyan, Kunduz in the north and Gardez in the east. Britain is also set to deploy its own troops in Mazar-i-Sharif, in the north.

For its part, the United States is trying to persuade countries notably in central Asia to take part, said one US diplomat.

WAR.WIRE