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NATO Hands over Afghan Security to Local Forces

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Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced on Tuesdat that NATO occupation forces were handing over security responsibility to local forces.

“From tomorrow, our security and defense forces will now be in the lead,” Karzai said. “From here, all security responsibility and all security leadership will be taken by our brave forces.”

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Afghan forces were taking the lead on security from Tuesday.

“They are doing so with remarkable resolve, and they deserve the full support of the Afghan people,” he said at the ceremony.

The handover of the last 95 districts from NATO to Afghan control includes areas in the south and east where the Taliban have concentrated their bloody insurgency against the US-backed government since 2001.

After the handover, 100,000 NATO forces will play a supporting and training role as Afghan soldiers and police take the lead in the fight against the militants who were ousted from power after the 9/11 attacks.

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