Afghans take over national security from US-led forces

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Jawad Jalali / EPA

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, left, shakes hands with NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen prior to Tuesday's ceremony in Kabul.

By Akbar Shinwari and Sohel Uddin, NBC News

KABUL, Afghanistan – U.S.-led international troops handed control of Afghanistan’s national security to local forces Tuesday -- a historic day marred by a suicide attack in another part of Kabul.

The formal transfer of responsibility is a major milestone in the process of withdrawal from the country, 12 years after the NATO-led mission began its mission to end Taliban rule.

Most foreign combat troops will leave the country by the end of 2014, but international funding and humanitarian aid will continue - prolonging the political headache for President Barack Obama over America's involvement in the conflict.

In another tentative step forward, Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced he is sending a team to the Qatari capital, Doha, for peace talks with the Taliban in a bid to end insurgent attacks.

Afghans are now responsible in all districts of Afghanistan's 34 provinces, completing a transfer of power from NATO that began in 2011.

Anja Niedringhaus / AP

More than ten years after the beginning of the war, Afghanistan faces external pressure to reform as well as ongoing internal conflicts.

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“Is a great day for us, not only for the Afghan government but also for the Afghan nation,” said Janan Mosazai, spokesperson for the country's ministry of foreign affairs. “It is a big day of honor.”

However, a botched car bomb in a different part of Kabul killed at least three civilians just before the official handover, raising renewed questions about how the country’s 352,000-strong security forces will tackle the militant insurgency.

The target was prominent lawmaker and Shia Muslim cleric Mohammed Mohaqiq, police at the scene told The Associated Press.

Massoud Hossaini / AFP - Getty Images

The site of a suicide attack in Kabul on Tuesday that targeted Afghan lawmaker Mohammad Mohaqiq.

Gen. Mohammad Zahir, chief of the Kabul Criminal Investigation Division, told the AP three people were killed by the bombing and another 30 were wounded — including six bodyguards. Mohaqiq survived the attack, Reuters reported.

The security handover means the remaining US-led forces will play only a supporting role, providing help if needed but no longer taking the lead in tackling insurgent attacks.

"We will continue to help Afghan troops in operations if needed,” NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said at Tuesday’s ceremony. “But we will no longer plan, execute or lead those operations. And by the end of 2014, our combat mission will be completed. At that time, Afghanistan will be fully secured by Afghans.”

The U.S. military is by far the single biggest group within ISAF’s steadily-shrinking force of about 100,000 foreign troops [PDF link here.]

In January, President Barack Obama said announced that more than half of the approximately 66,000 U.S. troops still in Afghanistan will return home in 2014.

The Afghan army has suffered a sharp rise in casualties since it began slowly assuming greater control of security, the BBC reported.  By comparison, international coalition casualties have been steadily falling since 2010, it said.

Among the problems faced by Afghanistan is a high desertion rate among recruits to its local police forces, meaning thousands of new recruits are needed each month.

“It is a good decision that the Afghan forces are taking the responsibility because it is their own country and they are the one who should be responsible for the security,” said Kabul restaurant owner Mohammad Faried.

However, he added: “I still have doubts. If they do not have good weapons it will be hard for them to keep peace and stability in the country especially in the villages.”

The U.S. and its allies have yet to decide exactly how long troops will remain in Afghanistan beyond 2014, and what their role should be.

In March, Karzai publicly criticized the American presence in his country, causing embarrassment to U.S. defense secretary, Chuck Hagel, during his first visit to Kabul in the new role.