KABUL – President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai yesterday announced that seven areas of the country would be included in the first phase of a gradual handover from Nato troops to Afghan forces in July.
The announcement was the first tentative step in a long process that will end with the withdrawal of all foreign combat troops from Afghanistan by 2014, a process agreed by US and Nato leaders last year.
“Transition is the right of the Afghan people and, therefore, we should stand on this right and we want this transition to happen,” Mr Karzai told a graduation ceremony for Afghan military officers in a base at Kabul airport.
“We want to end this bloody war, we have to take this country towards peace by any means,” he said.
Including areas from the four points of the compass and embracing most of Afghanistan’s diverse ethnic make-up, the first phase of the transition is more symbolism than substance.
“This represents the next stage of Afghanistan’s journey, not the destination. And every step of the way will be determined by conditions on the ground,” Nato secretary-general Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in a statement congratulating Mr Karzai.
But the handover will still be a crucial early test of the readiness of Afghan forces, which face a knot of recruitment, training and battlefield challenges despite a big push by US and other western nations in recent years.
Civilian and military casualties are at record levels, with the insurgency spreading out of Taliban bastions in the south and east into what were once peaceful areas in the north and west.
Military commanders have warned of a tough spring campaign lying ahead with a renewed offensive from Taliban-led insurgents.
Despite that, Washington remains committed to its pledge to begin a phased and gradual withdrawal of US troops from July. – (Reuters)