By David Brunnstrom
Reuters, 24 September 2007
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Afghan forces may be able to take over some large-scale regional security operations from NATO but not before 2009 or 2010, a senior NATO commander said on Monday.
Brigadier-General Vincent Lafontaine, operations commander of the 40,000-strong NATO force in Afghanistan, said the process of trying to put the Afghan army at the head of some missions had already started and the aim was to step this up next spring.
"It's the beginning and we will have to improve," the French general told a news conference in Brussels by video-link.
Asked when the Afghan National Army (ANA) might be able to take over a regional security role from some of NATO's provincial reconstruction teams, he replied:
"It could not be possible on a large scale before 2009-2010."
Western forces have been in Afghanistan since shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks on U.S. cities by al Qaeda, whose chief Osama bin Laden was sheltered by the Taliban regime.
The country has seen a steady escalation of violence in the last two years, the worst since the Taliban's 2001 overthrow.
Lafontaine said NATO did not have the resources in Afghanistan to control such a large country quickly, so its strategy relied on improving the capabilities of the army and police.
"IT WILL TAKE MORE TIME"
"Because we are under-resourced, it will take more time than we had initially hoped," he said.
The general said the Afghan army should reach 70,000 men by 2009 but a lot of work was still needed to create an efficient police force.
Lafontaine said the NATO force still needed additional transport and medical evacuation helicopters.
Holding ground secured by NATO troops required better Afghan army capabilities, while this in turn required more embedded NATO teams to help with training and the conduct of operations, he said.
Lafontaine said NATO had been successful in the past year in restricting large-scale insurgent activity and in limiting the Taliban to harassing operations, such as suicide and roadside bombings and kidnappings.
But he stressed NATO's overall aim was not military victory, but to help create conditions for a political solution.
A military operation in the southern province of Helmand to disrupt insurgent activity and clear the way to deploy Afghan troops there was drawing to a close, he said, adding:
"Currently the results seem good."
Some 2,500 troops launched the operation on Wednesday. Most are British, but the force also includes Afghan, Czech, Estonian and U.S. contingents.
Citation: David Brunnstrom. "Afghan army may fill key security role by 2009: NATO," Reuters, 24 September 2007.
Original URL: http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldnews&storyID=2007-09-24T141749Z_01_L24581072_RTRUKOC_0_US-AFGHAN-NATO.xml