ISAF ‘On Track’ to Hand Afghanistan Control by End-2014

NATO and the Afghan government have confirmed that the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) will transfer full security responsibility to the Afghan military by the end of 2014, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Friday.

“Summing up NATO-Afghan visit: good progress. More work to do. But on track to hand full security responsibility to Afghans by end-2014,” he wrote in his Twitter account.

“Good meetings with President Karzai and Afghan ministers. We agree that the strategy and 2014 timeline for transition remain unchanged.”

According to the Afghan Defense Ministry, after the ISAF pulls out, the Afghan security forces will take over about 1,300 military bases.

Rasmussen said NATO ambassadors “have seen Afghans dedicated, keen to take charge,” adding that “security [is] steadily improving” and that Afghanistan has “the strong and long-term support of the whole international community.”

Over 50 foreign soldiers and officers have been killed by Afghan police officers and servicemen in so-called green-on-blue attacks since the start of the year and the international coalition in Afghanistan has lost more than 330 troops so far this year, according to the ISAF.