US defence chief Leon Panetta visited troops in southern Afghanistan Sunday as part of his first trip to the country since taking up his post and ahead of a withdrawal of some US forces. The former CIA director, who took office on July 1 to replace Robert Gates, flew into Helmand province, where mostly US forces are battling the nearly decade-long Taliban insurgency.
His visit comes as commanders prepare to hand over seven NATO-held areas to Afghan control starting in mid-July, but amid widespread doubt over the ability of Afghan forces to take full responsibility for their own security. Panetta said Saturday that the focus of his trip would be the handover to Afghan-led security, acknowledging that there remained “a lot more work to do in terms of being able to transition the responsibility to them”. “The key to success in Afghanistan is the ability to successfully transition to the Afghans,” he said after holding high-level talks in the capital Kabul.
