At a press conference following meetings with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and cabinet members, the head of the NATO delegation General James Jones said the council had not yet decided how best to assist Afghanistan ahead of the elections.

However, five more provincial reconstruction teams (PRTs) would be established by June and more could be set up in the run-up to September elections.

PRTs are small units combining troops and civilian experts aimed at improving security, fostering reconstruction and boosting the influence of the central government in the provinces.

"The council of NATO has just approved a plan to extend the activities of NATO in the north and then afterwards in the west of the country especially through the instrument of the PRTs," Jones said.

Jones said the number of troops required by NATO for Afghan operations was not yet known but would be decided within the next few weeks.

This visit is the first time that the North Atlantic Council of NATO has travelled outside of Europe.

Jones, who is supreme allied commander of NATO in Europe said there would be greater cooperation between international agencies operating in Afghanistan following the visit.

"NATO is not acting in isolation," he said. "So... something which has been decided after our meeting is that there will be an even closer coordination among all the international actors, because there is NATO, there is of course Afghan authorities... and of course we have the United Nations and (US-led) Operation Enduring Freedom."

Earlier this month NATO approved a plan to further expand its International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops in the north. ISAF troops are stationed in capital Kabul and at a civil-military provincial reconstruction team (PRT) in the northern city of Kunduz.

Speaking at the same press conference Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah said that the new NATO-led PRTs will be established before the Afghan general election to help provide security for the polls already threatened by the militants.

"Hopefully, in the run of the elections we will see more contributions in terms of PRTs -- we are hoping to have five more PRTs by June this year," he said.

Abdullah said "the need for further engagement from NATO in the coming months prior to general elections" was also discussed.

In a statement released by the office of the president, Karzai, who has pushed for an expansion of ISAF's role in Afghanistan, said he was pleased with the outcome of the visit.

"This visit is very significant and demonstrates the commitment to Afghanistan by NATO," he said.

Warlord-dominated northern and western Afghanistan has been hit by recent violence involving regional commanders rather than insurgents who plague the country's south and east.

NATO commands the 6,500 ISAF peacekeeping troops in Afghanistan from some 34 nations and has been considering expanding outside Kabul for some time, particularly to provide greater security for elections this fall.

ISAF has been overseeing security in Kabul since the fall of Taliban regime in late 2001 but there have been repeated requests by Afghans and Karzai for an extension of its mandate.

NATO agreed in late 2003 to extend beyond Kabul but so far only 200 troops have been sent to the quiet northern province of Kunduz.

WAR.WIRE