Canada takes over command of ISAF from Germany

President Hamid Karzai and other senior members of government were present at the ceremony as well as NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and UN observer Hikmet Cetin.
There are some 6,100 ISAF troops in Afghanistan with the vast majority stationed in Kabul, and a smaller number in the quiet northern city of Kunduz. Formed under a United Nations mandate in late 2001, ISAF was established to assist the Afghan government in creating a stable and secure environment in Kabul. Late last year ISAF’s brief was extended to outside of Kabul.