Afghan Forces 'Handle Majority of Anti-Insurgency Operations'

Doha, June 12 (QNA) - Afghan forces are doing a majority of operations against insurgents on their own without much participation of international coalition forces on the frontlines, a former US official with long experience of working in Afghanistan said. Speaking to Qatar News Agency (QNA) on the sidelines of the 10th US-Islamic World Forum which concluded here Tuesday, former US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Afghanistan, Pakistan and Central Asia in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs, David S Sedney said, "Now 90 to 95% operations against Taliban insurgents are by led by Afghan forces. "The international forces don't go out and do unilateral operations. Many Afghan forces operations do not have any participation of the international forces who stay in the rear and provide support, training, advice, logistics, intelligence. This is a major change which will be a test for the Afghan military." US have said it will withdraw its troops from Afghanistan in 2014. "People have a very poor understanding of the situation on the ground today in Afghanistan. The situation there is more positive than its portrayed in the media," said Sedney who retired from his official post 12 days back. Earlier, he served as Deputy Chief of Mission in Kabul in 2002 after the re-opening of the US Embassy as well as the Director for Afghanistan at the National Security Council in 2003. The measure of success for the Afghan forces is where they end up in September from where they started in March. If they can keep status quo against the Taliban, who come hard at them, it will be a major accomplishment for them, he said. "The Taliban are aware of the importance to go after the Afghans, but so far when the Taliban have attacked the Afghans forces have managed to push them back. "The Taliban like to launch spectacular attacks like the one on Kabul Airport on Monday which was handled by the Afghan forces. There was no involvement of the international forces although they are right there at the airport. There were no civilian or Afghan forces casualties," said Sedney. President Hamid Karzai who also attended the US-Islamic World Forum in Doha, also reaffirmed the Afghan forces' increased capabilities saying, "Afghan security forces have the capabilities to counter any terrorist attacks by enemies of Afghanistan and protect their country." The success story of Afghan forces is not known to many outside, said Sedney who made a plenary presentation titled 'Transitions in Afghanistan and Pakistan' on the first day of the Forum here. On how the Forum can benefit the Afghan people, Sedney said, "The US-Islamic World Forum helps in understanding that Afghanistan still needs a lot of support in building its economy and education. The Afghans look to other Islamic countries for this. Therefore, this conference in Doha gave an opportunity, particularly to the business people to know where business openings are and where the Afghans need assistance." On the shift in the security balance on the Indian sub-continent once the international forces withdraw from Afghanistan he said, "The security balance has to be maintained by the Afghan forces. To really resolve the problem Pakistan should play a stronger role and control the areas where the Taliban operates. There has been a lot of fighting there and this year Pakistan military casualties have been higher than Afghan forces. On the role the new Government in Pakistan led by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif can play to resolve these security issues, Sedney said, "The government of Nawaz Sharif, with the strong electoral backing it has, has plenty to do to close the gaps between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The relations between the two countries have not been good. Both face insurgency and if they can work together they are much likely to succeed." He also said, "Both countries would be much better off if they co-operate economically including the full implementation of the Afghan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement which would help facilitate trade from Afghanistan to India via Pakistan. This agreement was signed two years ago, but it is still not fully implemented." Asked about Indian defence analysts perception that the withdrawal of international forces from Afghanistan would encourage the terrorists to focus on areas in north India, Sedney disagreed. "I have heard Indian analysts raise this possibility," he said. "But the objective of the Taliban who are fighting in Afghanistan is to take over the Government of Afghanistan. They are mainly Afghans who have left Afghanistan and are operating from Pakistan. I don't think they have any agenda for India." He reiterated the importance of the US-Islamic World Forum it gives an opportunity to various representatives to express views on various issues like the Syrian crisis that are important to Islamic world as well as the US. "There were some good discussions on regionally important issues like Syria, Palestine and Israel. These are issues such conferences cannot solve, but it does help people from different backgrounds to understand each others views better and come up with ideas on how to work on these issues in the future," he concluded. (QNA)