LONDON (Reuters) - Britain committed around 1,500 troops on Wednesday to lead a peacekeeping force in Afghanistan which it said could number up to 5,000 in total, but would not be fully in place for at least a month.
``I can now confirm that the United Kingdom is formally prepared to take on the leadership of an International Security Assistance Force,'' Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon told parliament.
Defense officials said the lead element of British troops, comprising 100-200 soldiers, would be in Kabul by Saturday, when an interim Afghan government takes power.
They described the Afghan capital as ``a dangerous and challenging environment.''
The international force will eventually total between 3,000 and 5,000 soldiers but will not be fully in place until ``well into January,'' one official said.
There was no explanation as to how those numbers fitted in with the much lower troop levels mooted by Afghanistan's fragile new interim government under Hamid Karzai.
After weeks of confusion and disputes over the size and role of the U.N.-mandated force, Karzai's designated defense minister Mohammad Fahim said it would number only 1,000 troops, with more providing logistical support.
The force would limit itself to Kabul and its immediate surroundings. Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has informed the United Nations of Britain's plans in a letter.
``The United Kingdom will provide the force commander and his headquarters,'' Hoon said, adding that after three months, Britain would hand over ``lead nation status'' for the force to one of its partners.
Major General John McColl, who led a reconnaissance team to Kabul last weekend, will lead the force.