KABUL - Afghanistan's Ministry of Defense and the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force spokespersons said on Saturday that the early exit of France's combat troops will not create security concerns in Afghanistan.
The day after France's newly-elected president Francoise Hollande visited Kabul and confirmed his decision to withdraw French combat troops from the country, Ministry of Defense spokesman General Zaher Azimi said that the Afghan National Army was capable of taking over those areas from the French forces.

"Currently, the Afghan National Army has found the capability to take over if any country, like France, decides to withdraw," Azimi told Tolonews via telephone.

Meanwhile, ISAF spokesperson General Carsten Jacobson said that the Afghan forces had advantages over a foreign force that would make up for other areas they may be lacking in.

"They [Afghan security forces] have advantages that we have to compensate with in part with technology. They are children of this country. They are sons of these villages. They understand the people and the villages they patrol in," he said, according to Reuters.

"They have their trust. They come into a position in areas where they take over responsibility - where they are there to stay," he added.

He also pointed out that France's withdrawal was not a total exit, in line with Hollande's statements in Chicago and Kabul that France would continue to work with the Afghan forces and support the country in other ways.

"We are waiting further decisions from France on how the future engagement of French defense forces is going to be here in Afghanistan, as the president stated very clearly at the summit in Chicago that France is going to stay engaged in other forms with and in Afghanistan. That we have to wait for before we can come to any conclusions," Jacobson said.

Hollande has pledged to the French people that he would withdraw France's combat troops by the year's end - two years before the agreed NATO deadline.
In Kabul on Friday he confirmed that 2,000 of the 3,400 troops mainly based in eastern Kapisa province would return to France, while 1,400 would stay and support the Afghan forces.
For Afghan citizens, France's announcement received mixed responses

Kabul resident Hamid Khana said that the Afghan forces would need to work hard after the French left.
"Our government should try to provide security in the country and must work hard to hold it together after the French troops pull out," Khana said.

"Also, we request all the world to support our country in all sectors: financially and economically, in order to help Afghan forces to maintain security," he added. Another Kabul resident Saiful Rahman said he preferred the French troops left today because Afghan forces are ready to secure the country.

"If French troops are planning to leave Afghanistan tomorrow, we prefer they left our country today - now - because our Afghan forces are capable of guarding their country. We don't have a problem." (Tolo News)