US military opens new HQ in Kabul

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, February 04, 2004

US military opens new HQ in Kabul

The US military on Tuesday unveiled anew headquarters in Kabul as its commander pledged more efforts to create a securer environment for the post-war reconstruction in Afghanistan.

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The US military on Tuesday unveiled anew headquarters in Kabul as its commander pledged more efforts to create a securer environment for the post-war reconstruction in Afghanistan.

"With this new headquarters, our primary focus will shift from overwhelming offensive combat operation to an approach balancing the continued needs for offensive combat with growing emphasis on creating enduring security," said Lt. Gen. David Barno at an inaugural ceremony in Kabul.

Barno, also commander of the US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan, said the opening of the Combined Forces Command-Afghanistan (CFC-A) reflected in many ways the new realities in the post-war country, where remnants of the ousted Taliban regime and al-Qaeda terrorist network are still a security headache.

It also marks the change of US military structure in Afghanistan, said the three-star US Army general.

"Our military operation is to take on a new form as the enemy has shifted his tactics," he said, referring to Taliban guerrilla fighters who have killed dozens of civilians in a series of attacks in the past two months.

There are currently over 11,500 US-led coalition forces, some 9,000 of them Americans, based in Afghanistan hunting for Taliban and al-Qaeda remnants, especially their leadership including Mullah Omar and Osama bin Laden. The coalition forces are headquartered in Bagram Airbase, some 60 kilometers north of Kabul.

A US military spokesman said here last week that US-led coalition forces had confidence to capture bin Laden, the al-Qaeda leader, by the end of this year, perhaps within months.

"The focus is on, I think this is a very critical year (in Afghanistan) for sure, " Barno told a press briefing after the ceremony, adding that the new Kabul headquarters would help effectively put together various intelligence agencies operating in the country hunting for the Taliban and al-Qaeda leadership.

"I am optimistic," said the US general.

Source: Xinhua

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