Updated on
Summary NATO troops handed over the control of Panjshir valley to Afghan security forces.
NATO troops handed control of the Panjshir valley, a fiercely anti-Taliban province, to Afghan forces in the latest of a series of security transitions.In a ceremony attended by Afghan and NATO-led forces officials in provincial capital Bazarak, Afghan Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak said, This is our national duty to take over security of our own country and defend our country. Chairman of Afghan Transition Coordination Commission Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai was also present on the occasion.With transfer of power of Panjshir, the first phase of transition of power to Afghan forces has almost completed. The handover ceremony makes Panjshir the sixth area to be put under Afghan security responsibility over the past week.Panjshir province, which lies about 130 kilometers from Kabul, has been a fiercely anti-Taliban stronghold where NATO forces have had little presence.Over the past week, NATO has transferred security control to Afghan forces in Lashkar Gah, the capital of Afghanistan’s volatile Helmand province, Bamiyan province and the cities of Herat and Mehterlam.Most districts in Kabul province will also soon be handed over to local forces. Kabul city has been under Afghan security responsibility since 2008.The transfers are the first phase of a plan that will place the country’s security under Afghan control in the next three years. International combat troops are scheduled to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014.
