Rebels not strong enough to threaten security: ISAF

KABUL) said on Monday.

President Hamid Karzai tasked security officials with assessing the security situation in Logar and Maidan Wardak at a National Security Council meeting two weeks ago.

Governors of Logar and Wardak told a meeting of security officials this week that insurgent activity in their provinces had increased.

“Fifty percent of the war is focused on 17 districts most of them located in the west, south and southwest of Afghanistan,” ISAF spokesman Günter Katz told a news conference in Kabul.

He said ISAF was working with Afghan security forces to continue mounting pressure on the armed rebels who had lost the courage of a face-to-face fight.

Armed rebels are driven from cities and populated areas on a daily basis, said Katz, who said insurgents were daily attacked by Afghan forces, with ISAF changing its role from combat to advisory.  

Security has improved in many parts of Afghanistan, the ISAF spokesman said, confirming 60 percent improvement in security in southern Kandahar province, compared to the past.

Insurgents after losing the ability of a direct engagement have opted to suicide attacks and roadside blasts which often claim civilian lives, he said.

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