Fight in Afghanistan to turn eastward: Petraeus

The outgoing commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan said that the focus of the war will shift in coming months from Taliban strongholds in the south to the eastern border with Pakistan where insurgents closest to Al-Qaida and other militants hold sway. On his last Fourth of July in uniform before becoming the new CIA director, Gen. David Petraeus said that come fall, more special forces, intelligence, surveillance, air power will be concentrated in areas along Afghanistan's rugged eastern border with Pakistan. There will be substantially more Afghan boots on the ground in the east and perhaps a small number of extra coalition forces too. "There could be some small (coalition) forces that will move, but this is about shifting helicopters — lift and attack. It's about shifting close-air support. It's about shifting, above all, intelligence, surveillance and recognizance assets," he said in interviews with The Associated Press and three other news outlets. The US-led coalition has concentrated most of its troops and attention in Helmand and Kandahar provinces in southern Afghanistan. That's where the majority of the more than 30,000 U.S. reinforcements were deployed last year. They have made gains in clearing the territory and now are trying to hold it as the Afghan authorities and international donors rush in with plans for development and better governance. "The priority has been central Helmand province and Kandahar," Petraeus said. "We have made significant progress there. ... It remains a tough fight because the enemy wants to come back and try to regain the momentum the Taliban had until we took it away sometime last fall." "We intend to hang on to those areas and solidify that progress and transition, increasingly, to a greater Afghan presence." That, he said, will allow the coalition to shift focus to the east, which is home to the Afghan Taliban and other groups such as the Al-Qaida affiliated Haqqani network and Lashkar-e-Taiba. Petraeus spoke at the US-led coalition headquarters where troops, carrying paper plates of hotdogs, steak and lobster were celebrating the Fourth of July. Earlier in the day he spoke at re-enlistment ceremonies for several hundred troops. "You raised your right hand and said 'Send me,' and today you raised your right hand again and said 'Send me again, if needed,'" he told the soldiers at the first stop at Kandahar Air Field. The trip was one of the last of his command. Petraeus will be succeeded by U.S. Marine Lt. Gen. John Allen at a ceremony scheduled for July 18. Petraeus' exit from Afghanistan comes as the United States begins a 15-month drawdown of some 33,000 troops by September 2012. He and other military officials had recommended that President Barack Obama adopt a longer timeline — one that would extend through next year's fighting season. Petraeus was not in the mood to discuss the differing recommendations. (AP)