Afghanistan started a second phase of transition on Thursday, taking over the security responsibility of a small northern province from NATO-led international forces, dpa quoted officials as saying. The province of Parwan was handed over during a ceremony in the provincial capital Charikar, some 40 kilometers north of the Afghan capital Kabul. It was attended by international military and civilian leaders and Afghan officials. Seven out of nine districts, as well as the provincial capital, were handed over to the Afghan forces. Parwan's Governor Abdul Basir Salangi said he was happy to have Afghan forces take over the security of his province. "Today is the day we demonstrate our ability to secure our own province. We are fully prepared to take over," Salangi said. "The residents of Parwan will never allow some element to disrupt the life of people here," he said. Ashraf Ghani, the head of Afghan Transition, said the security responsibility handover marked "a full and irreversible process which is in action now." "Transition does not mean leaving Afghanistan alone. It means change in strategy and extending of cooperation," Ghani said, adding that Afghanistan still needed international support. The second phase of security handover from NATO-led soldiers to Afghan forces is to include a total of six provinces, seven provincial cities and 43 districts, from nine provinces across the country. Thursday's handover came days ahead of an international Afghanistan conference in the German city of Bonn, which will focus on international political and financial pledges beyond the 2014 deadline for troop withdrawal.
