US and international forces in Afghanistan have made enough progress in rolling back the Taliban to allow the United States to begin withdrawing its forces this summer, General David Petraeus, the top commander in the country, said Tuesday.
Petraeus told a Senate committee he is reviewing options for decreasing force levels in July, but has not yet made a recommendation to US President Barack Obama about the potential size of the withdrawal, dpa reported
International and Afghan forces have largely pushed back Taliban gains, but that progress is "fragile and reversible," and requires a long term commitment to ensure it is sustained, Petraeus said.
"The momentum achieved by the Taliban in Afghanistan since 2005 has been arrested in much of the country and reversed in a number of important areas," Petraeus told the armed services committee. "However, while the security progress achieved over the past year is significant, it is also fragile and reversible."
The mission remains on pace to transfer the security responsibility to the lead of the Afghan government in 2014, and transitions have already taken place in some parts of the country, Petraeus said.
In the last year Afghan security forces have grown by 70,000, or about one-third over its previous level, Petraeus said.
Petraeus emphasized the importance of pursuing a political track to resolve the conflict, noting that the Afghan-led reconciliation process has made progress. So far, 700 former members of the Taliban have reintegrated into Afghan society, and another 2,000 are in the process of doing so.
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