U.S., Afghan officials review security

WASHINGTON, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- Afghan officials need to maintain vigilance to "reap the rewards of peace and stability," the Afghan defense minister said in Washington.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and other top foreign policy chiefs welcomed a delegation of Afghan officials to Washington to take part in a biannual consultation forum.

Gates told his Afghan counterpart, Gen. Abdul Rahim Wardak, that the Afghan military and police forces have shown "impressive" gains.

Wardak, for his part, said momentum was shifting in his country. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said he would like to his forces to take the lead in the country by 2014.

"Now with the tide of our difficulties undeniably turning, we need to maintain the effort and reap the rewards of peace and stability that so much sacrifice has brought so close to our grasp," the embassy of Afghanistan in Washington quoted Wardak as saying.

Gates told U.S. lawmakers recently about his budget request for the Afghan war. The U.S. Defense Department request includes $107 billion for operations, including $12.8 billion to train and equip the Afghan military and police force.

The European police force EUPOL, however, received scathing criticism by British parliamentarians who described their training effort in Afghanistan is "failing."

International forces, meanwhile, said they were investigating reports of civilian casualties during ground operations in Kapisa province.