NATO sees 2012 end to Spain's Afghan mission

NATO estimates that in 12 to 18 months Spain can begin the process of withdrawing its contribution to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, which currently stands at 1,550 military personnel and civil guards, from the Badghis province of the war-torn country.

The NATO summit taking place in Lisbon over the next three days is expected to rubber stamp the so-called Transition Plan to hand over responsibility for Afghanistan's internal security to its own national forces. The process is due to start in 2011 and be completed by 2014, according to a route map backed by the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, who will attend the Lisbon meeting.

The order in which provinces will be handed over to Afghan forces is the question that remains. Sweden, Italy, France and Germany have announced that the regions under their control will be among the first to be taken over by Karzai's government, in 2011, but an official announcement to that effect is not expected to be forthcoming in Lisbon.

NATO has made clear that the transition will be done in a piecemeal fashion, with cities and districts the first geographical demarcations that Afghan forces will assume control over. The decision as to which areas will be handed over to local security personnel will be made on a case-by-case basis by a committee dubbed JANIB, The Joint Committee of the Afghan Government and NATO for the Transition, staffed by Kabul officials and ISAF advisors. The handover will not follow a predesignated calendar but will be carried out taking into account the situation on the ground, NATO sources said.

"We expect to have strategic overwatch in large parts of the country by 2014," Mark Sidwell, NATO's top civilian representative in Afghanistan said.