Karzai Announces Third Phase of Security Transition

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has officially announced the third phase of security transition today, his Spokesman says.

A spokesman for the Afghan President, Aimal Faizi, said that all the provincial capitals are part of the third phase of transition and work on the third and fifth phases has just started.

According to Mr Faizi 120 administrative units including all provincial capitals will be transferred to the Afghan security forces.

"The transition commission was ordered to start the process of fourth and fifth phases of transition, the fourth and fifth phases will focus
on the bordering districts," Faizi said.

Meanwhile, head of the Afghan transition commission, Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai said that the third phase of security transition has focused on the security aspect.

"Security has been taken into serious consideration, but we have serious problem in governance, economic and justice sectors," Mr Ahmadzai added.

According to reports, Kapisa, Uruzgan and Parwan provinces are part of third phase of security transition.

This comes as the Nato Chicago summit will discuss about security transition and will focus on the future of Afghan security forces.

Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen and US President Barack Obama have agreed that the conflict in Afghanistan would be one of the topics addressed at the upcoming Nato summit in Chicago.

The two leaders met on Wednesday at the White House and also agreed that defence capabilities and Nato partnerships with countries outside the alliance would also rank as the top issues for the May 20-21 summit, according to a White House statement.

On Afghanistan, where US and Nato-led forces have fought an 11-year war, they agreed that the Chicago summit should reaffirm the coalition's commitment to the transition plan agreed on in Lisbon, Portugal in November 2010 when the leaders last met, and to hand over the control of security in Afghanistan to Afghan forces by the end of 2014.

The summit will decide on the final stages of the transition, including a shift next year from combat to a support role, as well as "enduring" support for "sufficient and sustainable" Afghan forces.

Furthermore, "the summit is meant to highlight the commitment of allies to field the defence capabilities that Nato needs for the 21st century," according to the White House. Obama and Rasmussen expect "that allies would be in a position to announce progress on a number of key capabilities initiatives, including on missile defence," according to the White House statement.