WASHINGTON, May 27 (UPI) -- U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said Sunday that while he believes Taliban forces in Afghanistan are weakening, "we still have a fight on our hands."
Panetta said in an interview on ABC's "This Week," he is confident U.S. and Afghan forces will be ready when the U.S. combat mission ends at the end of 2014.
"We have not seen them able to conduct any kind of organized attack to regain any territory that they have lost," Panetta said.
"We have seen levels of violence going down. We have seen an Afghan army that is much more capable at providing security. We've seen transitions take place, where we're beginning to transition. Now we're at about 50 percent of their population that has been transitioned to their control. We'll be at 75 percent."
Until then, he said, U.S. troops will continue to work with Afghanistan to root out counter-terrorism.
"The world needs to know that we still have a fight on our hands. We're still dealing with the Taliban, although they have been weakened. They are resilient," Panetta said. "We have the concern about the safe haven in Pakistan and the fact that they can seek refuge in that safe haven. That's a concern."
