Lashkar Gah: Nato hands over volatile Afghan city

British troops in Afghanistan's volatile Helmand province have handed control of the city of Lashkar Gah to Afghan security forces.

In recent days Nato handed over the relatively peaceful province of Bamiyan and the eastern town of Mehter Lam.
But correspondents say that maintaining stability in Lashkar Gah will be the sternest test yet for local forces.
The handover is seen as a critical step in a transition of power before foreign troops end combat operations in 2014.
A handover ceremony took place at the governor's palace in Lashkar Gah.
Afghan Minister of Defence Gen Abdul Rahim Wardak carried out an inspection of Afghan forces, before a handshake between the provincial Governor Mangal and the Isaf commander of south-west Afghanistan, General Toolan.
The new commander of Isaf Forces in Afghanistan, Gen John Allen, was also present.

Lashkar Gah

• Capital of Afghanistan's volatile southern province of Helmand
• Historically called Bost, the city was first founded about 1,000 years ago as a major city in the kingdom of Mahmud of Ghazna
• The modern city was built as a headquarters for US engineers working on an irrigation project in the 1950s
• The population of Lashkar Gah is 35,900 according to a 2006 central statistics figures

The handover ended with UK forces leading a procession of their military vehicles as Afghan officials gave them flowers.

The BBC's Jonathan Beale, who attended the ceremony, says it marked the beginning of the end for British control of the area, and that a genuine transfer of responsibility for security is taking place.
But British forces are only transferring responsibility for central Lashkar Gah, our correspondent says. They are still looking after certain parts of the city and will be on hand to assist Afghan security forces.
A lot of Afghan people are sceptical of whether their government is ready to take responsibility, he adds.
There is some confidence in the army and police but around 20% of police officers are "ghosts" - there on paper but with money going into someone else's pocket, our correspondent says.
Observers agree that Afghan forces are likely to meet their greatest challenge in Lashkar Gah, with Taliban insurgents still active in Helmand province.
On Monday, seven policemen were killed at a checkpoint near the city and on Saturday a British soldier was killed while on a routine patrol in the area - some reports suggest he was shot by a man in an Afghan army uniform.
Recent violence Violence has sharply increased across Afghanistan since President Hamid Karzai's March announcement that seven areas would be passed to local forces from July.
Hours after the first handover ceremony in Bamiyan, militants killed a key presidential aide in a raid on his Kabul home.
On Tuesday, there were reports of a mortar attack near the capital of eastern Laghman province, Mehter Lam, as Nato was handing over responsibility for that city.
The remaining four areas to be handed over are:

• Kabul province
• Panjshir province
• Herat city
• Mazar-e Sharif city

Seven UN staff were killed during a protest in Mazar-e Sharif and on Wednesday four civilians died when a bomb carried on a bicycle was detonated in the city.
There have also been a number of high-profile attacks including an assault on a luxury hotel in Kabul that left 22 people dead.
There are currently around 140,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan - nearly 100,000 of whom are from the US - still battling the Taliban insurgency.
After their withdrawal, the primary role of foreign troops will be to train and equip Afghan security forces.

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