The International Security Assistance Force (English: International Security Assistance Force, abbreviated: ISAF) was a UN-sanctioned NATO mission supporting the government of Afghanistan in the war against the Taliban and al-Qaeda after the overthrow of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
It consisted of an international force employing some 58,300 military personnel from around 40 nations. It was established under a mandate from the UN Security Council on 20 December 2001 tasked with guarding the capital Kabul and the nearby Bagram airbase from Taliban, al-Qāʿida elements and mercenary armies, and especially protecting the transitional government led by Hamid Karzai.
During the first two years, ISAF did not operate beyond the city limits of Kabul. The task of security in the rest of the country was entrusted to the newly established Afghan National Army. However, the 13 October 2003, the Security Council voted to extend ISAF's mandate to the rest of Afghanistan. Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien later said that Canadian troops (almost half of the entire force) would not be deployed outside Kabul. On 24 October, the Bundestag approved the deployment of German troops in the Kunduz region. About 230 soldiers were sent to the region, the first ISAF troops to be deployed outside Kabul.
The 28 December 2014, after 13 years, the ISAF mission ends and the mission begins Resolute Support Mission) within NATO.
Triggers
Starting in May 1996, Osama bin Laden and other members of al-Qāʿida settled in Afghanistan and established relations of dialogue and cooperation with the country's Taliban regime, within which several terrorist training camps were set up.
Following the 1998 attacks on US embassies in Africa, the US launched a missile attack on these training camps from submarines, but the effects of this retaliation were limited.
Between 1999 and 2000, the UN Security Council passed two resolutions establishing economic and arms sanctions on Afghanistan to encourage the Taliban to close their training camps and hand Bin Laden over to international authorities to answer for the 1998 attacks. The attacks of 11 September 2001 marked a souring of relations between the US and the Taliban government. Despite the fact that Osama Bin Laden initially denied any involvement, the 'fundamentalist thesis' was never questioned, was taken up by the press and corroborated by subsequent reports in the congressional committee.
On 20 September 2001, US President George W. Bush issued an ultimatum to the Taliban, in which he made the following demands:
- hand over all al-Qāʿida leaders in Afghanistan to the United States;
- free all prisoners of foreign nations, including US citizens;
- protect foreign journalists, diplomats and volunteers in Afghanistan;
- close the terrorist training camps in Afghanistan and hand over each terrorist to the appropriate authorities;
- grant the United States free access to the training camps in order to verify their closure.
The Taliban did not reply directly to Bush, believing that starting a dialogue with a non-Muslim political leader would be an insult to Islam. Therefore, through the mediation of their embassy in Pakistan, they declared that they rejected the ultimatum as there was no evidence linking Bin Laden to the 11 September attacks. On 22 September 2001, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia decided not to recognise the Taliban government in Afghanistan. Only Pakistan continued to maintain diplomatic contacts with the country. On 4 October 2001, they had secretly proposed to Pakistan the handing over of Bin Laden, and had proposed his trial in an international court, but subject to Shari'a laws. Supposedly, Pakistan refused the offer. In mid-October 2001, moderate members of the Taliban regime met the US ambassadors in Afghanistan to find a way to convince Mullah Omar to hand over Bin Laden to the US. Bush branded the Taliban offers as 'false' and rejected them. On 7 October, shortly before the start of the invasion, the Taliban publicly declared themselves willing to try Bin Laden in Afghanistan, but through an 'Islamic' court. The US rejected this offer as well, deeming it insufficient.
Only on 14 October 2001, a week after the outbreak of the war, the Taliban were willing to hand over Bin Laden to a third country for trial, but only if evidence was provided of his involvement on 11 September 2001.
The attitude of the US leadership towards the prospect of war, which was decidedly more 'interventionist' than in other situations, as well as the speed of military deployment and the immediate agreement reached with the Northern Alliance rebels suggested that the US had been planning the invasion of Afghanistan well before 11 September. It is true, however, that no enemy nation of the US had ever succeeded in carrying out an air attack of this magnitude on US soil since the attack on Pearl Harbor and that the US public, symbolically struck with an attack in the heart of its country, demanded a military response.
On 18 September 2001, Niaz Naik, former Pakistani Foreign Minister, stated that in mid-July 2001, he was informed by senior US officials that a military action against Afghanistan would start the following October. Naik also stated that, based on what the officers said, the US would not give up its plan even in the event of an immediate surrender of Bin Laden by the Taliban. Naik also stated that both Uzbekistan and Russia would participate in the attack, although this later did not happen.
The UN Security Council passed two resolutions on the terrorist attack. Resolution No. 1368/2001, passed in the aftermath of the 11 September 2001 attacks, qualified terrorism as a 'threat to international peace and security' (ex Article 39). A few days later, in a new session, the CoS passed Resolution No. 1374/2001 in which it reiterated its condemnation of terrorism and set up a UN Committee (the so-called CAT Committee) with the aim of imposing measures on states to counter all forms of terrorist financing.
Command
The ISAF command was initially on a six-monthly rotation between the different participating nations but, due to serious problems with this mode of management, it was handed over indefinitely to NATO forces on 11 August 2003. This was the first assignment outside Europe and North America. NATO also participated in 'Provincial Reconstruction Teams', i.e. small groups of about 100 soldiers and aid workers involved in reconstruction operations in the various Afghan provinces; the Italian Army was stationed in the Herat province.
List of ISAF Commanders (COMISAF):
- 22 December 2001: General John McColl, UK.
- 18 June 2002: General Hilmi Akin Zorlu, Turkey.
- 10 February 2003: General Norbert Van Heyst, for Germany and the Netherlands. His deputy was Dutch Brigadier General Bertholee.
- 11 August 2003: ISAF is placed under NATO command, with German General Götz Gliemeroth as commander, and Canadian General Andrew Leslie as deputy.
- 9 February 2004: General Rick Hillier, Canada, with German General Werner Korte as his deputy.
- 7 August 2004: General Jean-Louis Py, commander of the Eurocorps, a multinational force consisting of units from France, Germany, Spain, Belgium and Luxembourg.
- 13 February 2005: General Ethem Erdagi, Turkey.
- 5 August 2005: General Mauro Del Vecchio, Italy. In 2005, Italy commanded five multinational missions: in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Albania and the Gaza Strip (EUBAM).
- 4 May 2006: Lieutenant General David Richards, United Kingdom
- 4 February 2007: General Dan K. McNeill assumes command of both US and NATO forces.
- 2 June 2008: US General David D. McKiernan assumes command of NATO forces.
- 20 May 2009: US General Stanley A. McChrystal assumes command of NATO forces.
- 23 June 2010: US General David Petraeus assumes command of NATO forces.
- 18 July 2011: US Marine General John R. Allen assumes command of the NATO forces.
- 10 February 2013: US Marine General Joseph F. Dunford Jr. assumes command of the NATO forces.
- 24 August 2015 - 28 December 2016 4: Lt Col Nato. M. Stancato assumes command of the Nato forces. He was the last commander of the mission.
Italy
Italy has provided, since 11 August 2003, contribution to the ISAF Mission, also holding the Command between the 2005 and the 2006.
The Italians, on two occasions (2006 e 2008), were the Commanders of the Kabul Region, and Italy contributes around 4,200 troops to the ISAF Mission in the field, making it the fifth largest supplier of troops. The Italian contribution is divided between Kabul and the western region (RC-West), mainly in the provinces of Herat and Farah.
The Air Force's Panavia Tornado bombers, deployed from the German base at Mazar-i Sharif, in northern Afghanistan, were then deployed in November 2009 by the AMX International AMX ground attack aircraft, which started operating from the Forward Support Base (FSB) in Herat, on whose runway the airport was upgraded.
Italy has also deployed, since 2006, an important component of special forces in Operation 'Sarissa', the Task Force 45.
ISAF ends the 26 December 2014. In its place Resolute Support until 29 June 2021.
RC-West ISAF Italian Army Assets
Thousands of Italian soldiers were deployed in the ISAF mission in Afghanistan.
Broadly speaking, in the 11 years of operations, the structure has had the following set-up:
- Manoeuvre forces consisting of the various infantry and mechanised infantry regiments of the Italian Army deployed in the provinces of Herat and Farah on a rotational basis.
- Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) until 25 March 2014. From 26 March PRT-CIMIC Detachment
- ITALFOR, national inter-force component in charge of management and ligistics aspects
- IMC (Infrastructure Management Centre)
- JMOU (Joint Multimodal Operation Unit)
- RSOM (Reception Staging Onward Movement) interagency
- Task Force Fenice based (Army Aviation) with CH 47 'Chinook' and NH90 helicopters for personnel transport and supplies, and A129 C 'Mangusta' helicopters for scouting and escort duties in fire support to ground forces
- Military Advisory Team (MAT) in charge of training and assisting Afghan Army officers
- Engineer Task Force specialising in explosive ordnance threat management
- Joint Task Force C4 (JTFC4) in charge of communications to all Italian units operating in the western region of Afghanistan
- Two healthcare structures, Italian-led ROLE 1 (emergency room and infirmary) and Spanish-led ROLE 2 (multi-specialist hospital)
Joint Air Task Force (JATF)
Within the Regional Command-West (RC-W) and the ISAF Air Component Element in Kabul, the Joint Air Task Force (JATF), the national air component of the Italian presence in Herat, was established on 1 June 2007. The Task Force is involved in the coordination aspects of those assets that are under the direct Operational Control of NATO. Other assets, such as the C-27J and C-130 Hercules-J transport aircraft, the AMX tactical bombers (previously the Tornado IDS) and the UAVs (or Remotely Piloted Aircraft) themselves, instead, receive 'operational orders' for deployment directly from the NATO Air Component Commander, as they operate on a large scale throughout the Afghan territory.
AOS aircraft are present in the Task Groups:
- "Devil": with the Tornados of the 6th Wing (until the end of 2009) equipped with air reconnaissance capabilities, to increase aerial surveillance of the Afghan territory and thus guarantee greater security and protection for the NATO contingent and the civilian population;
- 'Black Cats': with the AMXs of the 51st Wing that replaced the Tornados and returned to Italy in June 2014;
- 'Albatros': with C-130J transport and EC-27J JEDI electronic warfare of the 46th Airborne Brigade, which returned home in early 2015 and December 2014, respectively;
- "Tiger': with AB-212 ICO (Implementing Operational Capabilities) helicopters of the 9th Wing, deployed from June 2009 to April 2010;
- "Astore": with RQ-1 Predators from the 32nd Wing, whose last operational flight on Afghan soil took place on 1 December 2014.
Losses
In total 53 Italian soldiers died in Afghanistan31 were killed in hostile actions (one of whom died a week after being wounded during the raid in which he was rescued after his capture), ten in road accidents, two from heart attacks, one from a shot fired accidentally while loading his weapon, one from illness. There were 651 wounded. Overall, the conflict killed about 176,000 people, including 46,319 civilians.
