Thaindian News

Washington, Apr 30 (ANI): The Pentagon has said that the international coalition and its Afghan partners have made “tangible progress” against the Taliban in Afghanistan over the past six months.

“We’ve wrested away areas the insurgents have had under control for years,” a senior defense official said, while detailing the report on ‘Progress Toward Security and Stability in Afghanistan’.

The report, which covered the situation in the war-ravaged country over the past six months, has given a very different picture than the first report in January 2009.

The earlier report had portrayed a gloomy picture of Afghanistan, wherein the Taliban and other insurgent groups had operated shadow governments across many provinces. Besides, the level of violence was also rising.

The official however said that the situation has changed now.

“The narrative arc since the first report shows that there was a real problem, the administration’s reviews identified that and the means necessary to reverse that, and not just reverse it, but push it back. Over the last year, as we put those forces into place, the situation on the ground is fundamentally changing.”

He insisted that changes would come gradually over the long run, adding: “You need to look at the entire campaign, you need to look at the entire effort and, most importantly, you need to look at the results.”

Nevertheless, the official cautioned that progress in Afghanistan is still fragile and reversible, and that “there are going to be tough days ahead.” (ANI)