We must remember that transition will be a process rather than a single event. It will take place at different times in districts and in provinces only as security circumstances permit. The pace of this transition will depend on conditions on the ground, in particular the operational readiness of the Afghan National Security Forces.
On 22 March President Karzai announced the first provinces and districts to transition to Afghan authority.
These include the provinces of Bamyan (all districts), Panjshir (all districts), and Kabul (all districts except Surobi) and the districts of Mazar-e-Sharif (Balkh province), Herat (Herat province), Lashkar Gah (Helmand province) and Mehtar Lam (Laghman province).
This first tranche of provinces and districts identified for transition has been selected on the basis of an assessment that their security, governance and development conditions are sufficient to commence transition. The decision to commence transition was made by the Afghan Government based on the assessment and recommendation of the Joint Afghan NATO Inteqal Board.
In these areas the Afghan security forces have been assessed as capable of taking on additional security tasks with less assistance from ISAF.
Progress in Uruzgan
Transition is what Australia is working towards in Uruzgan province with the Afghan National Security Forces and our partners in Combined Team-Uruzgan, the United States, New Zealand, Singapore and Slovakia.
There was never an expectation that Uruzgan would be in the first tranche of districts and provinces to begin transition. We believe the Uruzgan transition process can occur over the next three years, between 2012 and 2014.
Over the past six months, the Afghan National Security Forces and Combined Team-Uruzgan have expanded security over areas previously controlled by the Taliban.
This has been made possible in part through the transfer of several patrol bases from ISAF or Afghan National Army control to the Afghan National Police, which has in turn allowed the Afghan National Army to move into contested areas. The increasingly competent Afghan National Security Forces, with the support of Combined Team-Uruzgan, are covering more and more ground, extending the reach of the Afghan Government throughout the province.
Australian-mentored Afghan forces are expanding the security footprint from the Tarin Kot bowl to the Mirabad Valley in the east, Deh Rawud in the west, and north through the Baluchi Valley into Chora.
Combined Team-Uruzgan’s success has been broader than the military side.
The civilian-led Provincial Reconstruction Team, the conduit for the majority of Australia’s contribution to the civilian stabilisation efforts in Uruzgan Province, is showing positive signs.
Australian Defence Force engineers, working as part of the Provincial Reconstruction Team, are assisting in the delivery of vital infrastructure projects, including Government buildings, hospitals, roads, bridges, schools and places of worship. Our task now is to ensure that this progress in security, development and governance and the gains we have made are consolidated and not reversed.