Afghan transition starts in 2013, NATO says

BRUSSELS, Feb. 2 (UPI) -- Afghan forces will play a leading role in defending the country starting in mid-2013 with the aim of ending combat operations by 2014, NATO's chief said.

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, addressing defense ministers in Brussels, said Afghan forces would start taking the lead on combat operations by the middle of next year.

"From that time, the role of our troops will gradually change from combat to support," he was quoted by The New York Times as saying.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced his intention to pull his troops out of Afghanistan by 2013. Last month, he said French forces were suspending training operations with Afghan troops after four French soldiers were killed and another 16 were wounded when an Afghan army officer opened fire on the Frenchmen.

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Wednesday insurgent forces in Afghanistan were weakened, however. A top U.S. intelligence official said earlier this week that al-Qaida's foundation was also destabilized by last year's slaying of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

Panetta, in statements Wednesday, said the goal was to complete the transition "from a combat role to a training, advice and assist role" in 2013.

Meanwhile, Afghan Interior Minister Gen. Bismillah Mohammadi was quoted by the United Nations' news service as saying public confidence in the Afghan police force was on the rise.

"Much work has gone on but more needs to be done to professionalize the police further, especially in the lead-up to transition," he said.