Thu, 12 Nov 2009
Kabul - Afghan Defence Minister, General Abdul Rahim Wardak, said Thursday that NATO-led international troops could start a "gradual withdrawal" from Afghanistan in four to five years if the size and training of indigenous forces are boosted. "Since 2002 I have been saying repeatedly that the only sustainable way to secure Afghanistan is to enable the Afghans themselves," Wardak told reporters in Kabul, while standing alongside his German counterpart, Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg.
"I hope that in the next four, five years the international forces would transform into a mentoring and supporting role and the situation will allow a gradual withdrawal of the international forces," Wardak said.
But he cautioned that such a scenario would not be possible unless the international community agreed to increase the size of the Afghan forces and "help us accelerate the growth of the Afghan national security forces both in quality and in quantity."
Wardak did not give any figures for the new military size. However, Afghan officials in the past have said that country's military strength has to be nearly doubled from the current goal of more than 200,000 Afghan army and police for them to take over security responsibility from NATO forces.
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http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/294402,afghan-minister-says-nato-could-start-withdrawal-in-4-to.html