KABUL, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Commander of the Afghan National Army's 111 Division Ramin Muqbil has downplayed the impact of the withdrawal of the U.S. forces from Afghanistan, saying the Afghan forces are capable of handling the security in the country independently.
"We Afghans make the plans for conducting war on enemies and we are leading the war," a local television channel Tolonews quoted the commander as saying.
In an interview with the leading Afghan media outlet, the commander said they have "no concern" about the withdrawal of the U.S. forces from Afghanistan as "Afghan forces are capable enough" to conduct the operations against the armed opposition groups independently.
The U.S. administration has reportedly reduced its forces to 2,500 in Afghanistan and as per the order of outgoing U.S. President Donald Trump, the United States would bring its troops to zero by May this year.
"These 2,500 remaining troops are not with us on battle ground," the commander said, adding Afghan security and defense forces have been fighting independently against the armed opposition groups over the past six years.
He made the remarks amid increasing militancy especially the targeted attacks in Afghanistan, as well as the peace talks in Qatari capital Doha to find a negotiated solution to the country's lingering crisis.
More than 90 people including four civilians have been killed in the targeted attacks, airstrikes and gun battles in Afghanistan over the past 24 hours, according to officials.
The second round of talks between the Afghan government negotiating team and the Taliban begun on Jan. 6 but so far no tangible progress has been reported.
Meanwhile, spokesman for the Defense Ministry Rohullah Ahmadzai has said that Afghan forces have the ability to lead the war independently.
Echoing Ahmadzai, spokesman for Afghanistan National Security Rahmatullah Andar told local media recently that the U.S. forces pull out would have no serious impact on security situation in the country. Enditem