The Turkish commander of the international peacekeeping force in Afghanistan  said on Friday he feared that a war against Iraq could lead to "terrorist" attacks against his forces in Kabul. Gen. Hilmi Akin Zorlu also told reporters he believed the 4,800-strong International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) that has a U.N. mandate to help provide security in the Afghan capital must stay for at least another two or three years.

Saying he was speaking as ISAF commander, and not as a Turkish general, Zorlu said: "If there is any Iraqi operation, it means that the terrorist activities against ISAF forces may start. This is our concern, my concern, as ISAF commander."

Zorlu said he thought it was unlikely that the international community would expand ISAF beyond the Kabul area anytime soon given the reluctance of many countries to provide troops or funds to do this.

The general visited Washington to brief officials on the security situation in Kabul and to argue for more international aid to Afghanistan as it rebuilds after the U.S.-led military effort that toppled the Taliban regime last year.

Asked how long ISAF should stay in Afghanistan, he replied: "at least two or three years more ... in order to provide the Afghan government better security circumstances."

Zorlu said that the Afghan government would need this time to establish, equip and deploy an Afghan national army around the country, saying once this was done the international force could possibly be reduced but should still remain because it provided tangible evidence of the world's desire to help the Afghans.

"The presence of ISAF shows the intention ... of the international community to help the Afghan people," he said. "So, it's more than military troops in Kabul."

PHOTO CAPTION

A soldier from International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), right, along with a Kabul police officer, center, and an Afghan National Army soldier, left, guard the scene around an iron bus-stop after it was hit by a rocket in downtown Kabul, Thursday night, Nov. 21, 2002. District Police Chief Abdul Ruof Taj said a rocket was fired from an area southeast of the city. The rocket struck the top of a rusted iron bus-stop at an intersection in the Microryan neighborhood, about one mile from the U.S. Embassy. There were no injuries. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)