French Lieutenant-General Jean-Louis Py, head of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), said he anticipated that "very soon NATO will make an announcement on the commencement of ISAF phase two expansion into the western region of the country by this spring or summer."

ISAF, which came under NATO control in 2003, comprises some 8,000 soldiers from more than 30 countries. It is currently deployed in Kabul and nine provinces north of the capital.

In April 2004, NATO decided to extend into western Afghanistan to set up new provincial reconstruction teams, which have dual security and humanitarian roles.

But at a December meeting in Brussels, NATO put back until 2005 the decision on whether to approve the second phase of ISAF's mission. NATO defense ministers will meet informally in the French city of Nice in two weeks' time.

Py added that NATO had been trying to increase cooperation with the 18,000 US-led coalition troops hunting Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants in Afghanistan.

"The most effective way to mitigate risks in Afghanistan would be through enhanced synergy, as both operations share a number of common tasks in the country," he said.

However he said there was "a political problem to solve" as the US-led and NATO forces had fundamentally different roles -- one to fight terrorism and the other to keep the peace.

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