Fighting to Continue in Afghanistan PDF Print E-mail
Written by CrisesMagazine.org   
Friday, 05 February 2010 16:26

The conflict in Afghanistan is stretching into its ninth year as thousands of Afghan civilians have been killed both by acts of violence, including bombings and daily fightingNATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Friday that there will be more fighting in Afghanistan.
Rasmussen made the remarks while addressing the second day of an informal meeting of NATO defense ministers with non-NATO ISAF contributing nations, which started in Istanbul Thursday.
Defense ministers and senior military officers from 44 countries gathered for two-day close-door meeting to exchange views on the operation in Afghanistan.
Turkish President Abdullah Gul attended the informal meeting on Friday morning.
According to NATO, 43 countries have contributed a total of 85, 795 troops for the ISAF in Afghanistan.
ISAF has been deployed since 2001 under the authority of the UN Security Council which authorized the establishment of the force to assist the Afghan government in the maintenance of security in Kabul and its surrounding areas.
NATO took command of ISAF in August 2003 upon request of the UN and the Afghan government.
"There is no doubt 2010 will be a challenging year," he said, adding that "But this is also the year that we should begin to see Afghanistan's future take shape."

NATO is not winning the War
With a different perspective the commander of NATO and US forces in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, said at the meeting that the ISAF forces are "not winning" the war in Afghanistan.
He told reporters in Istanbul on Thursday that he does not believe the allied efforts in Afghanistan has "turned a corner."
"I'm not prepared to say that we've turned the corner."
"I still will tell you that I believe the situation in Afghanistan is serious," McChrystal said on the sidelines of the Istanbul summit.
General McChrystal, however, claimed that US-led forces had made "significant progress" last year and set the stage for even more progress this year.
His comments came as the death toll of foreign soldiers fighting in Afghanistan under US and NATO command hit 44 in January; the is the highest for that month since the war began more than eight years ago and can be compared to 25 in January 2009.
Foreign troops' casualties are expected to rise as the US and NATO send more soldiers to Afghanistan with the goal of quelling the Taliban militancy.

Death Toll Raises
In Afghanistan, NATO-led forces during a joint operation against Taliban militants in the southern Helmand province killed nearly three dozen fighters, spokesman for provincial administration Daud Ahmadi said Thursday.
According to Ahmadi "soldiers of Afghan army, police and international forces launched a cleanup operation in Nad Ali district Wednesday and have killed 32 rebels."
He also confirmed that three Afghan soldiers were killed and four others including a NATO soldier sustained injuries.
Ahmadi did not say if the operation is concluded.
Helmand has been regarded as the hotbed of Taliban militants in south Afghanistan.
Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Zahir Azimi disclosed Wednesday, February 3, that Afghan and the NATO-led forces would soon launch a major offensive in province.
The conflict in Afghanistan is stretching into its ninth year as thousands of Afghan civilians have been killed both by acts of violence, including bombings and daily fighting, and US military operations in the country.

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