It has been a critical year in the transition of security control to Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) as Afghanistan prepares for the withdrawal of international forces at the end of 2014, a senior British Army commander has announced.
Speaking at the IISS in London on 22 October, Brig Rupert Jones, commander of 1 Mechanised Brigade on Operation Herrick 18, described how critical it had been for ANSF to survive their first ‘fighting season’ as security lead in Helmand province.
‘The insurgents knew [2013] to be an important year,’ Jones said while describing insurgent objectives to gain media exposure in