The alliance will take the baton at a ceremony expected around July 31 in the biggest city in the south, Kandahar, marking its expansion from operations in the relatively calm capital and north and west of the country.

Thousands of British, Canadian and Dutch troops have been setting up in the south since the beginning of the year in preparation for the transfer of authority from a US-led coalition.

The soldiers -- especially the Canadians based in Kandahar and the British forces in Helmand -- have had a tough time, facing down regular Taliban attacks that have killed several soldiers with the insurgency at an all-time high.

The move is the most ambitious undertaking by the 26-nation alliance, which is joined by around another 10 nations in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) that came under NATO command in 2003.

"It is the toughest ground mission, if not the toughest mission overall, the alliance with other partners has ever embarked on," said ISAF spokesman Major Luke Knittig this week.

"We know the southern provinces are the most difficult ones we can operate in the country."

It is also NATO's first mission outside the Euro-Atlantic area.

The troops move into a region that a US-led coalition has been unable to tame with the insurgency launched after the Taliban were removed from power in late 2001 only gaining in sophistication.

Part of the difficulty has been a shortage of boots on the ground in vast and rugged terrain where even the fledgling Afghan forces have little presence.

The expansion will put around 8,000 foreign troops in the south, almost double the number there last year, but even the adequacy of this number has been questioned in the face of the growing unrest.

Another change will be a sharper focus on reconstruction with the battle for "hearts and minds" among an undecided public seen as essential.

"It's an illusion to think that there is a military solution to Afghanistan," NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said during a visit last week, urging the international community to match ISAF's expansion with development.

ISAF's role on paper is to extend the government's authority and provide a stable environment to allow reconstruction to begin.

The force could however be more busy defending itself from relentless attacks from militants, whom officials say are exploiting vulnerabilities around the transfer of authority.

These include the arrival of new troops to a hostile area and fears in some ISAF nations about the safety of their troops that could see them back out.

The expansion of the alliance is being seen however as affirmation of international support for Afghanistan amid fears it will again be abandoned to descend into the chaos that led to it becoming a safe haven for the Al-Qaeda terror network under the Taliban.

And it legitimises the presence of foreign troops by broadening their spread from the US-dominated coalition -- called "invaders" by some, including the Taliban -- analysts say.

The expansion, due to be formally approved by NATO ambassadors on Friday ahead of the announcement of a ceremony for the transfer, will take the number of ISAF troops across the country to 18,000.

The force is due to move into the final quarter, the east, by the end of year to number about 23,000 troops nationwide working alongside the insurgency-focussed coalition.

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