The NATO-led mission in Afghanistan must seize on progress shown in a US review of the war to ensure that the gains are irreversible, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Thursday.
"The review shows progress in Afghanistan," Rasmussen said in a statement. "Our strategy is sound and we have in place the necessary resources to accomplish it."
"Now we have to consolidate those gains and make them irreversible. This is a challenging task, but we are determined to see it through," the head of the 28-nation alliance said.
The police review found that US President Barack Obama's troop surge in Afghanistan has made progress in curbing the Taliban and severely weakening Al-Qaeda, but gains are not yet durable and sustainable.
Obama has deployed 30,000 extra troops to Afghanistan, raising the number of soldiers in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) to around 150,000, in an all-out effort to defeat the insurgency.
NATO leaders agreed at a summit last month to begin handing control of the battlefield to Afghan security forces next year with the aim of ceding the lead nationwide by 2014.
"As we look back on 2010, we see that we have made hard-fought progress," Rasmussen said. "In 2011, all NATO Allies and their partners in ISAF will continue to work together to make Afghanistan – and our own nations — safer."
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