"Our national security forces continue to grow on a daily basis. I am confident that we will complete the process of transition to full Afghan security responsibility by the end of 2014, as previously agreed," said Major General Asadullah Akramyar, Deputy Assistant Minister for Policy and Strategy at the Afghan Ministry of Defence while visiting NATO Headquarters on 9 November.
"Currently, 75% of the Afghan population lives in areas where the Afghan National Security Forces lead security operations. And in the last six months, Afghan forces led 80% of the security operations across the country," Major General Akramayar continued. Ultimately, "the process of transition and our national sovereignty are mutually complementary," he underscored.
Major General Akramyar led a delegation of 10 senior officers of the Afghan Ministry of Defence and one representative of the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The group also visited Allied Command Operations in Mons, Belgium from 5-8 November, where they participated in a defence education seminar on strategic planning for national security, led by senior defence academics from the United States and Romania. The programme was part of NATO's efforts to strengthen the professionalisation of Afghan security forces and institutions. These activities fall within the framework of NATO’s Enduring Partnership with Afghanistan.
While in Brussels the group discussed various elements of NATO political-military engagement in Afghanistan through the end of 2014 and beyond with representatives of NATO’s International Staff and International Military Staff, including Ambassador Kolinda Grabar, Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy and Ambassador Dirk Brengelmann, Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security Policy.
The group also exchanged views with representatives from Brussels-based think tanks and research centres, including Carnegie Europe, the Brussels office of the German Marshall Fund of the United States, the Security and Defence Agenda, the Centre for European Policy Studies, the European Institute for Asian Studies, and the International Security Information Service.
16.11.2012
