KANDAHAR CITY (PAN): A senior Afghan military official said on Wednesday foreign troops were preparing to leave southern provinces, where they had so far transferred 188 military bases to local counterparts.
The Afghan National Army’s 205th Atal Military Corps commander in the south, Maj. Gen. Abdul Hameed Hameed, told Pajhwok Afghan News NATO-led troops were preparing to leave Kandahar and Zabul provinces and Afghan forces had assumed security responsibility in Uruzgan and Daikundi.
He said the international troops had established a total of 235 bases and posts in cities and districts in the southern zone and had handed over 188 of them to Afghan army.
Hameed said foreign troops were expected to handover all military bases to Afghans in a number of districts in Zabul and Kandahar over the next three months.
He said the security situation had improved in areas abandoned by foreign troops, adding Afghan forces had the ability to keep security on their own.
The commander claimed people’s cooperation with Afghan forces had lately increased, saying the current situation was in favour of the security transition. Security operations were ongoing in various areas to further improve conditions for the switch, he added.
He said the operations were underway in Kandahar’s Ghorak, Maiwand and Panjwai districts, where the insurgents had been weakened and all roads cleared.
A new operation would be launched on Friday in the Khakrez district, where insurgents were posing threat to the security situation, he revealed.
The commander said the overall situation in Kandahar had improved because there was no area currently controlled by the Taliban.
Maj. Gen. Hameed also claimed having credible information about the creation of serious rifts in the Taliban ranks, saying the rebels had appointed new shadow district chiefs from Kandahar to western Herat province.
On training and equipment to the national army in the south, Hameed said a large number of recruits were currently undergoing training on how to detect and defuse landmines and use light and heavy weaponry. The trainees included air force personnel, he said.
He said teams of army engineers were being trained on defusing landmines which had been a leading factor behind most casualties among forces and civilians.
He said the ground forces were fully equipped, but some problems in areas of artillery, tanks and air force remained.
Additionally, he said the air force lacked detective helicopters, jets and facilities in the defence system.
However, he said the international community had promised resolving the problems over the next five years.
The 205th Atal Military Corps air force branch currently possessed seven helicopters and six small helicopters used for carrying logistics and transport purposes, according to Hameed.
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