Afghanistan: Defense Minister Says Security Improving, Despite Attacks

In North Waziristan, along the Afghan-Pakistan border, tribal families flee their village after fighting broke out between pro-Taliban militants and security forces earlier this month (epa) Afghan Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak said in Brussels today that the security situation in his country is improving, despite the recent increase in terrorist attacks. Speaking at NATO headquarters, Wardak said the increase in terrorist incidents and suicide bombings shows the insurgents are turning to softer targets as the Afghan National Army has gained the upper hand in the battlefield. He also called for a lasting NATO role in Afghanistan, but one that will increasingly rest more on symbolic presence, rather than large numbers of troops.

BRUSSELS, 13 March 2006 (RFE/RL) -- Speaking to reporters at NATO headquarters, Afghan Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak offered a distinctly upbeat view of the security situation in the country.

Wardak conceded there has been a marked increase in terrorist activity in recent months, but argued that this represents a shift in strategy. That shift, in turn, he said, has come in response to the growing prowess of the Afghan National Army (ANA).

"Recently, there has been a rise in violence. The enemy has lost the capability to [counter] our forces in the field, so they are more resorting to terror tactics and going against softer targets," he said. "As a result of that, it looks like there is deterioration in the security situation, [but] I would say it is too early to reach that conclusion."

Wardak also suggested that the epicenter of the insurgency is correspondingly shifting out of Afghanistan. He said the numerous suicide bombings that have hit the country in the past few months are new -- and alien -- to the country and its culture.

"The suicide bomber is a new phenomenon. We Afghans do not believe that committing suicide is a way to [fight]. [It is] such [a] cowardly action. Out of all suicide bombings which have taken place in Afghanistan, only one case has been confirmed it has been an Afghan. Of the rest, every, every individual one has been a foreigner."

Wardak said there is absolutely no local support for suicide bombers inside Afghanistan. He said that what is needed to counter suicide attacks is to improve the government's human intelligence capabilities and cooperation with local people in affected areas. Most important, he underscored, is to increase security on Afghanistan's borders, and "also some districts which neighbor our borders."

Wanted: More Border Cooperation

The latter formulation appears to be a reference to a war of words that has erupted between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his Pakistani counterpart, Pervez Musharraf. Karzai has accused Pakistan of not doing enough to suppress the neo-Taliban insurgency within its own borders -- a charge that Pakistan denies. Karzai's visit to Pakistan last month appears to have produced no visible breakthroughs.

Wardak said today Afghanistan continues to look for better cooperation from Pakistan.

"We would like to have more cooperation on the borders and to have coordinated efforts to overcome the present problem. This has been agreed in the meeting [of the two countries' presidents]. And as far as the Afghan government is concerned, we have followed the same path and we will be continuing to extend our hand towards our Pakistani neighbors."

Canadian soldiers in the International Security and Assistance Force secure the site of a suicide blast in Kandahar this month (epa)

Wardak said the two countries were waging, "a common war," that threatens Pakistan's peace and security as much as it does Afghanistan's.

He praised the fast-improving capabilities of ANA, saying it had received nothing but praise from NATO and coalition forces. NATO and other international forces should stay in Afghanistan until the country can, he said, "stand on its own feet," but no longer.

"Once that is achieved I doubt that there will be [a] need for the deployment of large formations of international troops in Afghanistan," Wardak said. "But in the meantime we would like to have enduring relations with organizations like NATO, which will serve as a [deterrent] against conventional threats to our country. But that will not mean that they will have to have thousands of troops in Afghanistan, that [is rather for] the political commitment and a symbolic presence."

A Symbolic NATO Presence

Wardak echoed NATO officials in their recent observation that the alliance's presence is linked to the development of the ANA and other Afghan security forces. But the minister noted that the ANA is improving quickly and already taking over many tasks from western forces.

Wardak appeared to prefer a significantly shorter time scale for the withdrawal of NATO and coalition forces than western officials have suggested -- noting that under the terms of the 2001 Bonn Conference, the ANA will be fully operational within the next four or five years.

However, Wardak underlined that everything will depend on developments in Afghanistan's security situation, which, he noted, cannot be predicted

Wardak said Afghanistan is also seeking to join NATO's Partnership for Peace project, of which its Central Asian neighbors are members. He noted Afghanistan's situation does not differ markedly from that of its northern neighbors.

The minister said Afghanistan will contribute a brigade of ANA forces to match the expansion of the NATO-led ISAF stabilization force to the south of the country -- known as "Stage Three." ISAF forces will increase by 5000 to 6000 troops as a result.

Wardak said the ANA and other Afghan security structures have already destroyed "thousands of acres" of poppy fields in the southern Helmand province. He said the operation was launched in advance of the arrival of ISAF forces, as cultivation activities are seasonal.