Nato's Afghanistan mission passes to US control
Isaf troops in Afghanistan will now fall under US command
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Sunday, 04, Feb 2007 08:04
Nato's 33,000 troops in Afghanistan have been transferred from British to American military command.
General David Richards of the British Army handed over control of the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) to General Dan McNeill of the US in a ceremony today, ending a nine-month tenure which has seen Nato troop numbers rise from just 9,000 last May.
Gen Richards has insisted that last year was an unsuccessful one for the Taliban, which was ousted from power in the central Asian country by a US-led coalition in 2001.
His exit has been marred by reports about the fate of the town of Musa Qala, however, which has been infiltrated by the Taliban after British forces negotiated a peace deal with local tribal leaders last year.
Isaf said yesterday that the capture had to be taken "in context" because the Taliban had previously "taken district centres for short periods for propaganda purposes".
An airstrike this morning killed a Taliban leader travelling in his car on the outskirts of the town.
"We have proved that Nato can and will defeat the Taliban militarily and come the spring, an Isaf offensive not a Taliban offensive, will set the conditions to defeat the insurgents again when inevitably their cynical leaders will launch young men against us to do their dirty business," the Reuters news agency quoted Gen Richards as saying.
The Taliban has warned that it is planning a spring offensive against Nato forces. Its threats have been dismissed by Isaf.