NATO to begin Afghan security handover

NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen hopes the US-led troops would begin handing over Afghanistan’s security to Afghan forces sometime next year.

“I hope that by November we will be in a position to make announcements as to where transition can start in broad terms at least,” said Rasmussen during his visit to Washington.

He added that the plan is expected to be unveiled at the November summit in Lisbon, Portugal. These remarks were made ahead of talks with President Barack Obama on Tuesday

The NATO chief went on to say that the transition would be in line with the US president’s plans for beginning the US withdrawal in July 2011. This comes as the commander of the US-led forces General David Petraeus has called for 2,000 fresh troops to be deployed in Afghanistan.

There are currently nearly 150,000 US-led foreign soldiers in Afghanistan, where the security situation has recently been deteriorating and the foreign troops are being killed almost on a daily basis.