Afghans 'not ready' as US starts pull-out

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UK Independent:

British soldiers in Afghanistan face a surge in attacks by Taliban fighters seeking to exploit an imminent withdrawal of US marines in the region where they are based. Experienced US soldiers are to be replaced by a fledgling Afghan army corps despite the American belief that there isn't a single Afghan military unit in the replacement force which is able to act independently.

The withdrawal plan is revealed in a new report by the US Department of Defense published before this weekend's Nato summit in Chicago. It describes the plans as "the biggest challenge for the remainder of 2012".

Estimates using Nato data suggest it will take more than four years before Afghan National Security Forces will be able to fight unaided.

Despite this, the coming months will see a 60 per cent reduction of US marines in Regional Command Southwest, which includes Helmand Province. By October, there will be fewer than 7,000 remaining from a force of more than 18,000.

UK military experts warn that British forces staying in Helmand could face an onslaught from Taliban forces looking to exploit the situation. One former British service chief, who would not be named, warned: "Next summer could be a very risky one for our people in Helmand. Look at it from the Taliban point of view: they'll be looking at the numbers being drawn down, thinking, 'Let's do something that will rock a country by doing a lot of killing'... it might well be in our area."

And Colonel Richard Kemp, former commander of British forces in Helmand, said: "We can probably expect to see our troops engaged in heavier fighting than they have been in the past couple of years. No matter how many Afghan soldiers there are there, I don't believe that they will be able to replace the effectiveness of the US forces that are leaving."

He added: "They are not close to being able to take over from Western forces unaided, and I don't believe that they would be able to contain the insurgency unaided by 2014, which is the date we are due to leave."