Afghan security forces take control of more areas

KABUL: Afghan forces could soon take charge of security in all or parts of 17 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces — the second step in a transition that President Hamid Karzai hopes will leave his police and soldiers in control across the nation by the end of 2014, government officials said on Wednesday. Karzai is to officially announce the new sites that are to transition from Nato to Afghan control at a November 2 conference in Istanbul. In July, Karzai announced the first seven areas to begin the socalled transition process.

Abdul Khalik Farahi, director of the Afghan department on local governance, announced the 17 provinces at a meeting in Kabul where the list was being finetuned . Most areas are in northern and western Afghanistan not the south and east where most of the fighting has been taking place. But there are locations on the list that have been the recent scene of violence or are near to sections of the nation still controlled by the Taliban. “Afghanistan is passing a historical moment and opening a new page of history,” Farahi said.