Next security transition in 2 months: Ghani

KABUL): The new round of security transition is to begin in next two months to bring 90 percent of the population under Afghan control, the transition commission chief announced on Monday.

New areas for the fourth phase of security transfer from NATO forces have been identified, Dr. Ashraf Ghani told a press conference in Kabul. He said Afghan forces were currently protecting 75 percent of the population.

The Afghan intellectual said that the general assessment was that security had improved and that by the end of the fourth phase, the duration of which is open-ended, 87 percent of the people will be protected by local forces.

Targeted for the upcoming transition are 12 provinces, mostly in the north and central regions, as well as a district in the southern province of Helmand.

The third transition phase began in May and ended Monday.

Ghani said the fifth phase would require special preparations to embark on.

Defence minister Bismillah Mohammadi said that security in areas handed over to Afghan security personnel had improved by 20 percent.

“As long as the security transition continues, more attention should be paid to training and equipping local forces,” he stressed.

 “We are ready to keep security for the whole of the country,” said the minister, who declared people’s cooperation with their forces as crucial to making the transition a success.

myn/ma

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