Taliban have gained upper hand in Afghanistan, American commander says

BERLIN, Aug. 11 (UPI) -- With national elections coming up in Afghanistan Aug. 20, the Taliban have gained the upper hand in the country, American commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal Aug. 10.

According to McChrystal, extremists have moved from traditional strongholds in the southern and eastern parts of Afghanistan to the country's northern and western parts.

McChrystal warned that the number of casualties might increase in the months ahead.

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in an Aug. 3 statement Afghanistan would be NATO's biggest challenge.

NATO's International Security Assistance Force currently has 64,000 soldiers in Afghanistan.

Rasmussen said Aug. 3 NATO will support the Afghan people as long as needed. The troops would need to fight the country's platforms serving the development of international terrorism, Rasmussen said.

In the long run, the responsibility for Afghanistan's security needs to be passed on to the Afghan people, Rasmussen argued Aug. 3.

"To win the hearts and minds of the Afghan people as well a peaceful situation, we need to improve the living situation of the Afghan people," Rasmussen said.

"It's a very aggressive enemy right now," McChrystal said about the Taliban in The Wall Street Journal Interview. "We've got to stop their momentum, stop their initiative. It's hard work," he added.

Britain's mission in Afghanistan might even last up to 40 years, Gen. Sir David Richards told The Times of London Aug. 8.

"The Army's role will evolve, but the whole process might take as long as 30 to 40 years," Richards, who will serve as chief of the General Staff from Aug. 28, said in the Times interview.

German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung said in an Aug. 11 interview with the German BILD newspaper that 12 percent of Germany's operational areas in Afghanistan are "urgently threatened."

The security situation in the Kundus region has intensified, the German defense minister said.

The international community will at least need another five to 10 years to stabilize Afghanistan's situation, Jung told the BILD newspaper.

The country's security situation is impacting the preparations for the upcoming national elections, but Afghan people are still eager to vote, according to a report by the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan released Aug. 9.

The report co-authored by UNAMA and the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission found that the country's fragile situation has limited freedom of movement and expression for candidates and supporters; campaigning openly through public gatherings or door-to-door visits has become difficult.

"These restrictions have, in turn, created significant limitations on freedom of association and peaceful assembly, and amplified women's difficulties in participating in the electoral process," it says in the report, which covers the period from June 16 to Aug. 1.

According to the report, four killings likely to be related to national elections happened in July.

"I am concerned that security will affect the turnout on the voting day. There is no doubt about that," Kai Eide, the secretary-general's special representative for Afghanistan and head of UNAMA, said in an Aug. 9 statement.

"It is of course sad that we have conflict ongoing in the country which will not allow all Afghan voters to come to the polling stations and do what they want to do, to give their vote and have their say what the future of Afghanistan should be," Eide added.