Deputy commander in Afghanistan calls insurgency 'resilient'

KABUL, Afghanistan, May 1 (UPI) -- A U.S. Army general finishing up his third tour of duty in Afghanistan refused to predict the demise of what is proving to be a stubborn insurgency.

Army Lt. Gen. James Terry told a farewell news conference as deputy commander of U.S. Forces-Afghanistan that the insurgency is "very resilient," Stars and Stripes reported.

"I'm not going to make any predictions," Terry said Tuesday. "My first time here in 2007 there were a lot of well-intentioned people making claims about the last gasp of the insurgency."

He pointed to this summer as a critical juncture for Afghan National Security Forces, which assume responsibility for Afghan security once international combat troops have left.

Terry said the surge of 33,000 additional U.S. troops in 2010 worked despite U.S. Defense Department figures showing a later increase of violence in Afghanistan.

As head of the U.S. Army's V Corps, Terry will return to Germany when he leaves Afghanistan.