International

Bosnia is planning to send troops next year to join the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan, defence minister Selmo Cikotic said on Monday.

"We expect to have a unit in ISAF next year," Cikotic told a year-end news conference, referring to the International Security Assistance Force. He said that his ministry has been drafting a new plan proposing to the country's presidency potential partners for a Bosnian unit in ISAF.

He did not elaborate but local media reported that a Bosnian unit could be part of either the German or Turkish contingent in ISAF. The Balkan country, which is not a member of the NATO military alliance, seconded 10 army officers to Danish and German contingents in Afghanistan this year.

Bosnia has united its rival ethnic armies that fought each other during the 1992-95 war and its NATO-sponsored defence reform is seen as the most successful reform in the country, which remains ethnically divided 14 years after the war's end.

Cikotic told Reuters that a unit slated for Afghanistan would have up to 100 soldiers.

Earlier this month, NATO declined Bosnia's application for its Membership Action Plan (MAP), saying it needed more democratic reforms and a more effective military. The country hopes next year to get into MAP, a roadmap for accession.