PETERSFIELD MP Michael Mates has returned from a secret visit to Afghanistan, where he got first-hand experience of what NATO forces are up against in the war-torn region.

Mr Mates was part of a delegation of NATO parliamentarians visiting the country to see for themselves the scale of the task that the NATO forces face.

During a visit that took in meetings at the headquarters of the International Security Assistance Force in Kabul, the British Embassy and military subordinate headquarters, the delegation travelled to Mazar-e-Sharif in the north of the country and met the provincial governor.

Mr Mates said: "This was an excellent opportunity to assess the situation in Afghanistan for myself. Travelling around the country in military transport planes, staying at night in rooms constructed out of shipping containers and enduring the terrible local food all gave me an insight into the conditions that our forces have to cope with over there.

"The aim of the international forces is to enable Afghans to take control of their lives – as we have done with some success in Iraq. The 100,000-strong Afghan army is starting to take control of some areas of the country as it develops the capacity to take on the Taliban.

"The major problem with security is the rampant corruption in the Afghan police and the Ministry of the Interior. President Hamid Karzai has taken the bold step of firing the Minister of the Interior and appointing an army general to root out the corruption.

"Relations with Pakistan have improved. This is critical because the Taliban have their safe havens in Pakistan where they go to rest, train and pick up new weapons. This is a similar situation to Northern Ireland when the IRA were able to retreat over the border to the Republic in the 1970s. President Karzai went to the inauguration of the new Pakistani president as a gesture of friendship and officials from both countries are now trying to co-ordinate action in the remote border region."

Tory Mr Mates, who won't be standing in the next election, added: "Progress in the fight against the drug trade – the main source of funding for the Taliban – is picking up. Eight of 32 regions are now poppy free and NATO has agreed at a political level that the organisation should take a more active role in counter-narcotics. If this can be successfully negotiated at the operational level, it would make an enormous difference."

Mr Mates continued: "My visit to Afghanistan has shown me the scale of the task that the international community faces as we support the Afghan people in creating a more stable and more prosperous society.

"The death of a British aid worker while I was there was a terrible reminder of the dangers. But I was also encouraged by our meeting with President Karzai that the action needed to deal with corruption and to strengthen Afghanistan's security forces is now under way."