The Straits Times
Gates sees 'acid test' ahead in Afghanistan war
SANGIN (Afghanistan) - US DEFENCE Secretary Robert Gates touted progress on a visit to southern Afghanistan on Tuesday but said Nato forces will soon face an 'acid test' as Taleban insurgents move to seize back ground.
In a tour of pivotal battlegrounds, Mr Gates said he came away encouraged that coalition and Afghan forces were rolling back the Taleban from longstanding strongholds in Kandahar and Helmand provinces.
But he added that the results of the Nato-led campaign would not be clear until later this year, when the Taleban is expected to exploit warmer weather to strike back.
Mr Gates's visit comes before foreign troops are due to start limited withdrawals from July, handing control of security to Afghan forces in some areas ahead of a full transition across Afghanistan due by 2014.
Elsewhere, Afghan President Hamid Karzai warned on Tuesday the year ahead was 'critical' and would hold 'crises and difficulties.' 'The fight this spring and summer is going to be very tough. We expect the Taleban to try and take back much of what they've lost,' Mr Gates told reporters at a US outpost in the Arghandab district, west of Kandahar city.
'And that will really in many respects be the acid test about how effective the progress that we've made is.' -- AFP
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