The outgoing top US commander in Afghanistan vowed success Monday in the fight against Taliban extremists in an emotional Memorial Day commemoration of soldiers killed in service, AFP reported.
General David McKiernan led the event at Camp Eggers, the largest US base in the Afghan capital, which paid special tribute to a 25-year-old woman soldier and a 52-year-old US civilian killed in a bomb strike near Kabul last week.
"To those of us who deployed to this land, those who deployed with us that will not return home -- we salute you and we will never forget you," McKiernan told a crowd of about 600 people that included Afghan cabinet ministers.
Portraits were displayed of First Lieutenant Roslyn Schulte and contractor Shawn Pine, who were killed on May 20 when a remote-controlled bomb struck their vehicle as they were travelling to a US base at Bagram, north of Kabul.
Referring to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, McKiernan said: "All of you are here today because our country was suddenly attacked and thousands of innocent Americans were killed by a shadowy terrorist network.
"In the course of that mission, we have also become committed to a better future for the people of Afghanistan," he said at the camp, the headquarters of a US military unit that trains and supplies the Afghan forces.
"It is a commitment we will not leave but we will see through to the very end," McKiernan said, adding: "Make no mistake, we will be successful."
Seventy-three people working for the training mission, called the Combined Security Transition Command Afghanistan, have been killed in the past year, including 60 US nationals and two Afghan interpreters.
The mission is helping to grow the Afghan National Army to 134,000 from the current level of 87,000 troops. It is also working with the Afghan National Police, which now numbers 82,000 but is expected to expand.
The Taliban were removed from government in a US-led invasion in late 2001 launched after they did not hand over their Al-Qaeda allies after the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.
They are waging an insurgency that has steadily picked up pace, reaching its deadliest level last year.
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates this month announced a shake-up of the US military leadership in Afghanistan, saying he had replaced McKiernan after less than a year in charge to make way for "new thinking".
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