Afghan soldiers confident to provide security for country after pullout foreign forces

KABUL: (MEP) – Just a year away from a scheduled pullout of U.S.-led foreign forces from Afghanistan, some Afghan soldiers are saying that they can provide the country with adequate security, help the country restore peace and even defeat the Taliban. “We are ready to sacrifice for the country’s security. We are happy to die to make our people safe,” soldier Niaz Mohammad told Xinhua in a recent interview.

The security transition process from the United States and NATO forces was launched in summer 2011. The government forces took full security responsibilities from the United States and NATO forces in areas where more than 90 percent of the country’s 30 million population lives. “The security transition process is succeeding. Security is getting better in areas where Army soldiers are stationed. It is because the Army has won the hearts and minds of people. Afghans trust their own security forces,” Brigadier General Sakhidad Tofan told Xinhua during a cleanup operations conducted by the Army in Ghorband Valley in eastern Parwan province on Oct. 23, Xinhua reported.

“Shortly after the Army arrives here the Taliban escaped. They cannot fight our soldiers frontally,” he said. “We know, there are still challenges in the days to come. But Afghanistan now has the ability of a sovereign country to meet those challenges. The Afghan people will see their sons and daughters providing security after pullout of the foreign troops. The Taliban will see a capable, credible force which will secure all corners of the country,” the general said.

The government offensive was launched after Taliban killed several civilians and security personnel in Ghorban, a valley which connects national capital Kabul with central Bamyan province, a tourist destination in the country. “We call on Taliban to stop fighting and join the peace and reconciliation process. If they do not come out, we will go to their bunkers and arrest them. I call on them to stop killing innocent civilians and stop roadside bombings and suicide attacks,” Tofan said.

On Oct. 27, up to 18 civilians, including 14 women and two children, were killed when Taliban launched a roadside bomb attack in eastern Ghazni province. The U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan are scheduled to switch from combat to support role, namely training, advising and assisting Afghan forces in June next year.

Mohammad said that the Afghan Army is ready to fight the enemy even without the support of the foreign troops. “We have enormous morale, the enemies are afraid of us, they are afraid of our power. I assure our people that there is no cause for alarm for the country’s future security,” he said.

Mohammad, however, said that the Afghan Army and other security agencies would continue to need the support of the international community in providing logistical support and arms. According to President Hamid Karzai, even if the NATO-led forces leave Afghanistan, international financial support for the war-ravaged country will stay.

During an international aid conference in Japan in July, the donor countries pledged more than 16 billion U.S. dollars in development aid for Afghanistan through 2015.

The United States and its NATO allies also promised almost the same amount to support Afghan army and police after the pullout of their troops.

The Taliban-led attacks and unrest had plagued parts of the war- torn country since late April, when the insurgents launched a yearly rebel offensive against Afghan forces and the more than 86, 000 NATO-led ISAF coalition forces stationed in the country.

The Taliban, who ruled the country before they were ousted by a U.S.-led invasion in late 2001, renewed armed insurgency, staging ambush and suicide attacks, killing combatants as well as civilians.

Mohammad said the Taliban cannot fight the army in the open and that is why they are engaged in suicide attacks and ambushes often killing not just security personnel but also innocent civilians.

In the first seven months of Afghan calendar (March 23-Oct. 23), nearly 1,300 Afghan army soldiers lost their lives with majority of them killed by improvised explosive devices (IED), according to figures released by the Afghan defense ministry.