NATO defense ministers have decided the alliance will take command of peacekeeping operations across all of Afghanistan.
Ministers meeting in Slovenia made the decision Thursday after the United States agreed to place 12-thousand soldiers already in eastern Afghanistan under a British-led NATO command.
The Pentagon says this is the largest number of American soldiers under foreign command since World War Two.
Also Thursday, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said NATO allies have pledged thousands of additional weapons and millions of rounds of ammunition to Afghanistan's army.
NATO has been trying to fight a resurgent Taleban militia in southern Afghanistan. NATO commanders have been asking for more troops and equipment.
Poland has offered to send about one-thousand extra soldiers by the beginning of next year and Germany has approved extending its stay in Afghanistan for one more year.
