The Commander of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan in a statement on Wednesday claimed significant improvement in the security and social life across the country while numerous challenges remained.
Today, almost eight million children of Afghanistan are going to school, some 40 percent of which are girls. Under the Taliban, only one million children went to school, almost all of them boys. In 2002, only nine percent of Afghans had access to basic health care; now 85 percent can reach medical facilities within an hour, the statement said.
Life expectancy is steadily rising. Under the Taliban, there were only 10,000 fixed phone lines, and today there are over 17 million people using cell phones. Daily life for women has also improved as women hold more than 25 percent of the seats in Parliament and are represented in small but growing numbers in the army and police.
ISAF's analysis indicates that 80 percent of the enemy attacks are occurring in areas where less than 20 percent of the Afghan population lives. More than 40 percent of all enemy attacks are occurring in just ten districts, most of which are in the northern reaches of Helmand and western Kandahar, both southern provinces.
Equally important to the insurgency's decreasing relevance, the expectations of the Afghan people have changed, according to Gen. Joseph F. Dunford.
Surveys clearly reflect that the Afghan people will simply not tolerate the oppressive policies imposed by the former Taliban government. In some areas, this sentiment has manifested in anti-Taliban movements.
As the traditional fighting season begins, the insurgency will confront a combined ANSF and Afghanistan Local Police (ALP) force of over 350,000 personnel who are in the lead for security in areas having over 87 percent of Afghanistan's population. Afghan forces are leading 80 percent of all conventional operations. Very soon, the ANSF will be responsible for security nationwide. They are steadily gaining in confidence, competence, and commitment, says the top commander of foreign forces in the country.
With the country's security mostly in the hands of domestic forces, insurgency can no longer use the justification that it is fighting foreign occupiers - that message rings hollow, Dunford said.
Today, Afghans are securing the Afghan people while the Taliban continue to conduct acts of violence that kill and maim innocent Afghan civilians. This will continue to undermine the influence and effectiveness of the insurgency, he added.
"The coalition and the good people of Afghanistan won't be satisfied until there is a secure, stable Afghanistan at peace with its neighbors. Despite the remaining challenges, the progress toward that goal is indisputable," the U.S. General said.
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