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Summary Hamid Karzai said more than half of Afghanistan will soon be under the control of local forces.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Sunday that the nations forces will soon take charge of security in areas of the country that are home to half of Afghanistans population.The handover, expected to begin by early next year, is the second step in a transition that Karzai hopes will leave Afghan forces in control of the entire country by the end of 2014, when the U.S.-led coalitions combat mission is scheduled to end. After that date, a much smaller foreign force will remain to continue training Afghan soldiers and police and battle militancy.A successful handover is key to NATOs plan to withdraw most of its combat forces from Afghanistan after more than a decade of fighting there. Western officials and experts have expressed pessimism about the ability of Karzai and his armed forces to assume command of their country. If they fail, the militant Taliban could stage a comeback.Karzais announcement means that Afghan forces already are, or soon will, lead security in eight of Afghanistans 34 provinces and nearly a dozen provincial capitals. Most of the areas on the second list are in the north and west, but it also includes places that have experienced recent attacks, as well as parts of the country near Taliban-controlled areas.Marjah district of Helmand province the site of a major offensive by coalition forces last year is included in the second round. Security has improved in Marjah, where the police once were so corrupt that residents feared them more than the Taliban. Coalition operations to rout the Taliban in February 2010 yielded slower than expected returns, but a troop buildup later in the year pushed insurgents out of the main center of the district.Though excited, many governors in the newly listed provinces have complained the transition cant succeed unless they receive more police, soldiers and equipment.At a meeting last month in Kabul, some governors predicted the transition would go smoothly in their regions while others worried insurgents would move in and overwhelm still nascent Afghan security forces. Several governors made the plea for extra manpower and equipment.
