Azerbaijan, Baku, 14 July /corr. Trend G.Ahmadova, D.Khatinoglu/ Though the current size of the Afghan army is now 63,000 that are capable of independently planning, executing and sustaining counterinsurgency operations, Afghanistan should be expected to require substantial international commitment and support for many years to come, office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs of US, said.
"Due to the scale of the challenges involved and the difficulties in the security arena in particular, we should expect Afghanistan to require substantial international commitment and support for many years to come," Mark Wright, Press Officer of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs of US quotes fromGen David Petraeus to Persian Department of Trend .
In June the US Defense Secretary, Robert Gates, expressed his concern over the increase in terrorist attacks by the Taliban in eastern part of Afghanistan. He said there has been 40 percent increase in terror attacks from January to May this year.
"The current size of the Afghan army is now 63,000 and the army continues to grow", Wright stated in his e-mail interview with Trend
"The Afghan Army has six combat battalions, two combat support/combat service support battalions, one Brigade headquarters and one Corps headquarters that are capable of independently planning, executing and sustaining counterinsurgency operations with no operational coalition support for organic unit functions", he said.
Pentagon official is sure that the Afghan National Security Forces along with coalition and allies will defeat the enemy at every engagement. "We do offer them (Taliban) a choice in how they can respond to us: they can flee; they can reconcile; they can be captured; or they can perish", he said
At the beginning of June the David W. McKiernan, was designated as a commander of NATO's International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan (ISAF).
McKernan has declared, that the forces subordinated to him "will not slacken speed" and "will support the Afghanistan government in maintenance of safety and carrying out of reconstruction and development". In view of this they "will solve a problem with insurgents, foreign insurgents, criminals and everyone who stands in the way of realization of this mission".
ISAF, that is under immediate NATO forces, includes 50,000 militaries from 39 countries.
The Taliban ("Students of Islamic Knowledge Movement") ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001. They came to power during Afghanistan's long civil war. Although they managed to hold 90% of the country's territory, their policies-including their treatment of women and support of terrorists-ostracized them from the world community. The Taliban was ousted from power in December 2001 by the U.S. military and Afghani opposition forces in response to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the U.S.