Petraeus transfers Afghan command
Source: Agencies |
July 19, 2011, Tuesday
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US General David Petraeus, Washington's new intelligence chief, handed over command of US and NATO-led troops in Afghanistan yesterday, a day after a tentative start was made to a gradual process of transferring security to Afghan forces.
Petraeus, credited with reversing a spiral toward civil war in Iraq, took over in Afghanistan on July 4, 2010, and is leaving the military to take over as director of the Central Intelligence Agency as part of a wider shake-up of senior US security officials.
Petraeus oversaw a "surge" of 30,000 extra US forces which helped stop the momentum of a growing insurgency, especially in the Taliban heartland in the south.
However, despite gains in violent southern provinces during Petraeus' year in charge, the Taliban-led insurgency is still far from quelled.
Violence across Afghanistan in 2010 hit its worst levels since the Taliban was ousted by US-led Afghan forces in 2001, with civilian and military casualties hitting record levels, and this year has followed a similar trend.
"We should be clear-eyed about the challenges that lie ahead," Petraeus said at a ceremony to mark the change of command of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force to US Marine Corps General John Allen.
Underlining those challenges, ISAF said yesterday three of its troops had been killed by a homemade bomb in Afghanistan's east, where some of the toughest fighting has taken place over the past year and where a fractured insurgency still rages.
While some analysts have questioned the success of Petraeus' much-vaunted counterinsurgency strategy in the face of rising violence, Allen vowed to press on but also warned of the challenges.
"It is my intention to maintain the momentum of this great campaign on which we have embarked," Allen said. "There will be tough days ahead."
On Sunday, ISAF handed security control over to Afghan forces in the central Bamiyan province, marking the start of a gradual transition process that will end with all foreign combat troops leaving Afghanistan by 2014.
Bamiyan was the first of seven areas to be handed over during the first phase of transition. Another district in the eastern Laghman province will be handed over to Afghan forces today. Lashkar Gah, the capital of the volatile Helmand province and the most contentious of the first seven areas, will be handed over tomorrow.
"Our military presence will diminish, as it should, after 2014 but the partnership between our two nations will and must continue," Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the US Military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the ceremony at ISAF headquarters in Kabul.
While troops under Petraeus' command made significant gains over the past year, the Taliban and other insurgents have still been able to launch attacks in major centers.
Petraeus, credited with reversing a spiral toward civil war in Iraq, took over in Afghanistan on July 4, 2010, and is leaving the military to take over as director of the Central Intelligence Agency as part of a wider shake-up of senior US security officials.
Petraeus oversaw a "surge" of 30,000 extra US forces which helped stop the momentum of a growing insurgency, especially in the Taliban heartland in the south.
However, despite gains in violent southern provinces during Petraeus' year in charge, the Taliban-led insurgency is still far from quelled.
Violence across Afghanistan in 2010 hit its worst levels since the Taliban was ousted by US-led Afghan forces in 2001, with civilian and military casualties hitting record levels, and this year has followed a similar trend.
"We should be clear-eyed about the challenges that lie ahead," Petraeus said at a ceremony to mark the change of command of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force to US Marine Corps General John Allen.
Underlining those challenges, ISAF said yesterday three of its troops had been killed by a homemade bomb in Afghanistan's east, where some of the toughest fighting has taken place over the past year and where a fractured insurgency still rages.
While some analysts have questioned the success of Petraeus' much-vaunted counterinsurgency strategy in the face of rising violence, Allen vowed to press on but also warned of the challenges.
"It is my intention to maintain the momentum of this great campaign on which we have embarked," Allen said. "There will be tough days ahead."
On Sunday, ISAF handed security control over to Afghan forces in the central Bamiyan province, marking the start of a gradual transition process that will end with all foreign combat troops leaving Afghanistan by 2014.
Bamiyan was the first of seven areas to be handed over during the first phase of transition. Another district in the eastern Laghman province will be handed over to Afghan forces today. Lashkar Gah, the capital of the volatile Helmand province and the most contentious of the first seven areas, will be handed over tomorrow.
"Our military presence will diminish, as it should, after 2014 but the partnership between our two nations will and must continue," Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the US Military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the ceremony at ISAF headquarters in Kabul.
While troops under Petraeus' command made significant gains over the past year, the Taliban and other insurgents have still been able to launch attacks in major centers.
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