Washington: The US is not declaring victory
against Taliban in Afghanistan though the insurgents are on
the run across the war ravaged country, a top American
commander said Wednesday.
Reacting to the killing of 30 American soldiers in a
Taliban attack, General John Allen, commander of US and NATO
forces in Afghanistan, said it is too early to declare victory
as the incidents like the helicopter crash is reflective of
the dangers that lies ahead there.
"All across Afghanistan the insurgents are losing.
They`re losing territory, they`re losing leadership, they`re
losing weapons and supplies, they`re losing public support,
and across Afghanistan more and more of the insurgents are
losing resolve and the will to fight, and they face relentless
pressure from coalition and, increasingly, Afghan forces,"
Allen said.
"We`re not declaring victory, certainly."
The Taliban had brought down the US Chinook helicopter on
Friday last week, in a major strike that left 30 US soldiers,
including 22 Navy SEALs dead, besides Afghan soldiers.
We realise that there are going to be long days ahead
and some pretty heavy lifts, but there are indicators that
lead us to believe that we are moving clearly in the direction
of achieving our goals," Allen told Pentagon correspondents in
a video news conference from Afghanistan.
Observing that the progress in Afghanistan is visible, he
said last month, the US began the process of transitioning
security responsibility to Afghan government and Afghan
forces.
PTI
