NATO chief optimistic on Afghanistan

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen says Afghanistan remains a challenge, but he expects the country's future to take shape this year. He made the remarks at the second day of an informal meeting of NATO defense ministers, and non-NATO ISAF contributing nations, in Turkey.

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen speaks during a news conference after the Informal Meetings of NATO Defence Minister in Istanbul, Turkey, on  Feb. 5, 2010.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen addressed assessments from other nations that the Taliban is expanding in the region. He says allied forces are on the way to seizing the initiative in the nine-year war.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen said, "There is no doubt 2010 will be a challenging year. There will be more fighting, and militants and terrorists will seek to kill ISAF soldiers and innocent Afghans. But this is also the year that we should begin to see Afghanistan's future take shape."

He urged NATO ministers to send several thousand new army and police instructors to the country, thus enabling government security forces to assume more responsibility.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen said, "Tens of thousands of additional forces are now deploying to Afghanistan. The Afghan security forces are growing in number and capability. The NATO training mission in Afghanistan is now up and running. And transition to Afghan lead will begin this year."

It was decided last week that Afghanistan's military would be boosted to more than 171-thousand by October 2011, up from a current total of 98-thousand troops.

At the same time, the number of police personnel will be increased to 134-thousand, up from today's level of 90-thousand.

Defense ministers and senior military officers from 44 nations have been gathering in Turkey for two days of discussions about Afghanistan.