WASHINGTON - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Tuesday praised the achievements of Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), saying they were becoming stronger and more capable.
"In Lisbon, we set a goal of transitioning full responsibility for security to Afghan forces by 2014, and they're making real progress toward that goal," Clinton said in her address to the World Affairs Council 2012 NATO Conference.
Al-Qaida senior leadership had been decimated and its relationship with the Taliban was fraying, she said, adding roughly 50 percent of the Afghan population lived in an area where Afghan forces were taking responsibility for security. And this spring, the number will go up to 75 percent.

About the NATO Summit in Chicago, she said the meeting would define the next phase in transition. "In particular, we will look to set a milestone for 2013, when ISAF will move from a predominantly combat role to a supporting role, training, advising and assisting the Afghan National Security Forces while participating in combat operations when necessary."

This milestone, she said, is consistent with the commitments they made in Lisbon because it would ensure that ISAF maintained a robust troop presence and combat capability to support the Afghan people.

"By the end of 2014, Afghans will be fully responsible. In Chicago we will discuss the form that NATO's enduring relationship with Afghanistan will then take," the secretary said, hoping the US would have concluded negotiations with Afghanistan on a long-term strategic partnership before the summit.

Clinton anticipated that a small number of forces would remain at the invitation of the Karzai government for the sole purpose of training, advising, and assisting Afghan forces and continuing to pursue counterterrorism operations.

"But we do not seek permanent American military bases in Afghanistan or a presence that is considered a threat to the neighbors, which leads to instability that threatens the gains that have been made in Afghanistan," she continued. (Pajhwok)