Visiting US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said in Kabul
yesterday that the US military forces will not leave Afghanistan
and it will play an important role in fighting against terrorism in
the country.
Speaking at a joint press conference with Afghan President Hamid
Karzai, Rumsfeld said, "The US military is not leaving Afghanistan,
although NATO-led troops would take command of the anti-terror war
from the US-led coalition forces in southern Afghanistan late
July."
"The US troops will go on to play an important role in the
NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), some
troops of which are moving toward the anti-Taliban frontier in
southern Afghanistan, because the US is an important member of
NATO," Rumsfeld said.
Rumsfeld vowed the US would intensify counter-terrorism tasks in
Afghanistan until success was made, saying it would help train more
Afghan troops and police and provide better equipments.
Rumsfeld said cooperation from Pakistan in Afghanistan's
anti-terror war had been "helpful," but didn't completely reduce
violence. "More work should be done, and more cooperation should be
carried out."
Karzai said Afghanistan needed the US participation and
assistance very much. The Afghan forces and police are still not
strong enough to cope with security problems by themselves.
Earlier this year, local reports said that the US would withdraw
4,000 troops of the total 22,000 from Afghanistan as it intended to
focus on the more violence occurred in Iraq.
Taliban-linked rising violence in southern and eastern
Afghanistan has apparently postponed US plan to withdraw its troops
from the country, according to local reports.
Afghanistan has suffered from a comeback of Taliban militants
this year, during which more than 1,000 were killed. The deaths
were mainly from the Taliban camp, while more than 50 foreign
soldiers, mostly US troops, have lost their lives.
(Xinhua News Agency July 12, 2006)
