France ends Afghan combat mission
AFGHANISTAN: France ended its last combat mission in Afghanistan on
Tuesday, withdrawing troops from a strategic province Northeast of Kabul
as part of an accelerated departure from the war-torn country.
Paris has said all French combat soldiers will leave next month, two
years before allied nations contributing to the 100,000-strong
International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) led by the United States
are due to depart.
Around 1,500 French soldiers will stay into 2013 to take
responsibility for repatriating equipment and training the Afghan army
to take over when all NATO combat troops leave in 2014.
France joined the NATO coalition in late 2001 after the September 11
attacks on the United States to topple the Taliban which had given
refuge to Osama bin Laden and his Al-Qaeda network. But despite 11 years
of fighting, a resilient Taliban insurgency has led to warnings of a
return to civil war or the Taliban returning to power in Afghanistan
after 2014.
An AFP correspondent saw the last 400 soldiers deployed in Kapisa
province start to leave Nijrab, the last French base outside Kabul, at
10:00 am (0530 GMT) after a departure ceremony.
France has lost 88 soldiers in Afghanistan and has been the fifth
largest contributor to ISAF, behind the United States, Britain, Germany
and Italy.
Kapisa, which straddles key transit routes from Pakistan to the
Afghan capital, has been the deadliest French mission in Afghanistan,
accounting for 60 of total French fatalities.
Troops moved into the province in 2008 and clashes with the Taliban
and militia quickly increased.
French and Afghan commanders say Kapisa has stabilised, but have been
unable to provide supporting statistics and attacks have continued.
“I have not seen terrain recaptured by the insurgency in this zone,”
said General Olivier de Bavinchove, the French commander in Afghanistan.
Two out of six Kapisa districts are thought to be at least partly
controlled by insurgents.
Kapisa security will now be the responsibility of 4,700 Afghan police
and soldiers, supported by 250 American soldiers, according to General
Eric Hautecloque-Raysz, the French commander in Kapisa and nearby
district Surobi.
He says he is optimistic about the capacity of Afghan troops. “The
insurgency is 10 times less than the (Afghan) security forces.
Therefore, they cannot be beaten,” he said.
Paris decided to accelerate its withdrawal after a string of deadly
attacks in 2011 and 2012.
AFP
|