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Nato Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has said the failure of Nato's mission in Afghanistan could result in terror attacks in Western countries.The alliance's mission in Afghanistan is not failing, but big challenges remain, Mr de Hoop Scheffer added.He was speaking ahead of a Nato defence ministers' meeting in Lithuania.His warning was echoed by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is visiting Afghanistan with UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband.On the unannounced visit, Ms Rice told frontline troops in Kandahar that "winning here in Afghanistan so that there can not be the attacks against our cities and against our people that originated here - that's the core of the modern fight".The visit comes amid tensions over the Nato mission in Afghanistan.The US and UK have been urging other countries to share more of the combat burden in the south of the country.Relations between the Afghan government and the Nato allies operating there were strained by President Hamid Karzai's assertion that despite British efforts, the situation had worsened in southern Helmand province where most UK forces are based, says the BBC's Alastair Leithead in Kabul.President Karzai also blocked the appointment of the UK's Paddy Ashdown as a UN envoy.Meanwhile, a string of studies has warned that Afghanistan risks becoming a failed state without more effective action.'No choice'
Mr de Hoop Scheffer said he would be spelling out to the Nato ministers that member nations had to do more to train and equip the Afghan army. The challenges that remain include the adequate training and equipping of the Afghan national army, but Nato's mission in the country was one of necessity, not choice, he added."This is the front line in the fight against terrorism, and what is happening in the Hindu Kush matters, because if terrorism is not dealt with in Afghanistan, the consequences will be felt not just in Afghanistan and the region, but also in London, Brussels and Amsterdam," he told the BBC.It is unlikely, however, that more combat troops will be offered at the two-day Lithuanian meeting, although officials are hoping it will pave the way for further contributions to be made at Nato's summit in Bucharest in April, says the BBC's Caroline Wyatt in Vilnius.The squabbling of recent days has again highlighted divisions within Nato over burden-sharing in Afghanistan, our correspondent adds.
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