U.S., Allied and Afghan Forces on Track for Transition
Washington â€" Due to significant security gains in 2010 and early 2011, U.S. and allied forces are on track to begin a security transition in some of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces in the coming weeks, putting “Afghan forces in the lead throughout the country by 2014,” says General David Petraeus, commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan.
(Media-Newswire.com) - Washington — Due to significant security gains in 2010 and early 2011, U.S. and allied forces are on track to begin a security transition in some of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces in the coming weeks, putting “Afghan forces in the lead throughout the country by 2014,” says General David Petraeus, commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan.
“The past eight months have seen important, but hard-fought, progress in Afghanistan. Key insurgent safe havens have been taken away from the Taliban, numerous insurgent leaders have been killed or captured, and hundreds of reconcilable mid-level leaders and fighters have been reintegrated into Afghan society,” Petraeus said in prepared testimony to the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee March 15.
“Meanwhile, Afghan forces have grown in number and capability, local security solutions have been instituted, and security improvements in key areas like Kabul, Kandahar, and Helmand provinces have, in turn, enabled progress in the areas of governance and development,” he said.
Petraeus said the United States, Afghan forces and the other 47 troop-contributing countries to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force have focused on a comprehensive civil-military campaign to help Afghanistan in developing “sufficient capabilities to secure and govern itself.”
As part of this campaign, Petraeus said, U.S., ISAF and Afghan troops have cooperated to increase the tempo of “precise, intelligence-driven operations to capture or kill insurgent leaders.” He said in a typical 90-day period, precision operations by U.S. special missions and their Afghan partners kill or capture about 360 targeted insurgent leaders.
He said joint missions to clear the Taliban from long-held safe havens have also been critical, resulting in a “fourfold increase in recent months in the number of weapons and explosives caches turned in and found.”
“And as a result of improvements in the security situation … markets, which once sold weapons, explosives and illegal narcotics, now feature over 1,500 shops selling food, clothes and household goods,” Petraeus said.
He emphasized the importance of devoting substantial additional resources to the development of Afghanistan’s security forces, “arguably the most critical element in our effort to help Afghanistan develop the capability to secure itself.”
Petraeus said in the last year, Afghan forces have grown by more than 30 percent, adding about 70,000 soldiers and police.
“Those forces have grown in quality, not just quantity. Investments in leader development, literacy and institutions have yielded significant dividends,” he said.
Additionally, Petraeus said the United States and allied forces have increased efforts to improve governance, economic development and the provision of basic services.
He said shifting security responsibility from ISAF to Afghan forces “will be conducted at a pace determined by conditions on the ground.”
“We’ll get one shot at transition, and we need to get it right,” Petraeus said.
The transition is set to begin in the coming weeks, with some troop reductions beginning in July and plans for completion by the end of 2014.
Petraeus met with President Obama and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates March 14 to discuss efforts in Afghanistan and the plan to begin reductions of U.S. forces, according to a White House release.
( This is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://www.america.gov )
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