WASHINGTON - The war against terrorism in Afghanistan, continuing to be a challenge, is headed in the right direction, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Monday.
"We continue to fight a war in Afghanistan. And although it's headed in the right direction, we are still fighting and dying in that war," the secretary said.
Panetta said in his address to the 2012 Annual Meeting of the Association of Defense Communities Location in California: "We're continuing to fight terrorism, and we have done significant damage to al-Qaida."

Leading the operation that got Al Qaeda supremo Osama bin Laden was the proudest moment in his past job as director of the CIA, Panetta said amidst applause.

"The fact is, we have gone after their leadership and we have weakened their capability to do command and control. But we still have to go after them in Yemen, in Somalia, in North Africa. So we still confront the threat of terrorism," he concluded. (Pajhwok)