Daily Archives: December 28, 2014

Pull back: A soldier for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) salutes during a ceremony at the ISAF headquarters in Kabul. Photo: AP

Kabul: The 13-year NATO combat mission in Afghanistan formally ended with a ceremonial retirement of its green flag and a pledge by top officials of the United States-led coalition to remain reliable partners in Afghanistan's unfinished war against the Taliban and other militant groups.

Scores of Afghan and foreign officials gathered to witness the symbolic shift to a new, much smaller NATO assistance and training mission. Sunday's event was held in a basketball gym inside NATO headquarters in the Afghan capital and accompanied by a brass band and colour guard.

"Our commitment to Afghanistan endures ... we are not walking away," promised General John Campbell, the US commander of the outgoing International Security Assistance Force combat mission. He will lead the new NATO support mission, which technically begins at midnight on December 31.

Ceremonial exit: US General John Campbell (right), commander of NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). Photo: Reuters

General Campbell and other Western officials stressed that their chief function under the new mission, named Resolute Support, will be to advise, train and assist Afghan security forces. They said, however, that a separate "non-NATO" contingent of US forces will participate in force protection, logistical support and activities.

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The Taliban responded to the transition event with glee. In a lengthy statement issued by a Taliban spokesman on Sunday night, the insurgent group gloated at the final departure of a "haughty" superpower that "thought it had already won the war and that the Mujaheddin would never ... think of putting up a fight."

The statement said the NATO withdrawal was proof that "the infidel powers who thought they would turn Afghanistan into their strategic colony" had been "pushed to the brink of defeat".

The total number of international troops here, which peaked in 2009 at about 142,000, has gradually dwindled to about 17,000. Under Resolute Support, officials said, 12,500 to 13,500 NATO forces will remain in 2015, including thousands of American troops. The alliance said 28NATO allies and 14 partner nations will contribute in different ways. Officials said about 5,500 US forces will be part of the second contingent, which will be based in Kabul.

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NATO flag comes down in Afghanistan as combat mission ends

The Afghan president, Ashraf Ghani, came to power in September and faces the challenge of tackling insurgents without Nato military assistance. Photograph: Aref Karimi/AFP/Getty Images

After 13 years of war, Nato formally ended its combat operations in Afghanistan on Sunday, leaving the Afghan army and police in charge of security in a country plagued by continued fighting, a ferocious insurgency and a rising tide of both military and civilian casualties.

Against a backdrop of violent clashes in a number of provinces and several weeks of deadly attacks on the capital, military leaders lowered the flag of a mission conceived in 2001, and hoisted the colours of a new one under which Natos role will largely be restricted to training, advising and assisting the local army and police.

Our Afghan partners can and will take the fight from here, said General John F Campbell, the commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) at a ceremony in the capital.

As insurgent attacks have increased in many parts of the country in 2014, Afghan forces have already been leading the fight in recent months but at a high price.

More than 5,000 local security forces have been killed this year alone, the highest toll since the war began. In comparison, the international coalition has suffered a total of 3,485 deaths since 2001.

The Afghan national security forces had to suffer losses this year that are too high, ISAFs deputy commander Lieutenant General Carsten Jacobson said, speaking to reporters after the ceremony. Now that [the Afghan forces] have taken over the tactical fight, losses lie on them.

Between 17,000 and 18,000 international troops will remain in Afghanistan after 2014, of which 12,000 - including approximately 470 British troops - will form part of the new Nato mission, named Resolute Support.

An additional 5,500 US soldiers will perform different roles, including counterterrorism and logistical assistance. At their peak in 2011, international forces numbered close to 150,000.

The international coalitions biggest achievement has been to help build a 350,000-strong security force in Afghanistan from scratch. But they are still ill-equipped, particularly when it comes to air support and intelligence gathering.

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Nato ends combat operations in Afghanistan