Senior UK commander says roads in Afghanistan were safer under the Taliban

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS (CP)

LONDON — A senior British military commander says roads in Afghanistan were safer when the Taliban ran the country.

Maj. Gen. Nick Carter told the BBC on Thursday that before the 2001 invasion, women could travel alone in the southern part of Afghanistan. He says "you could put your daughter on a bus in Kabul sure in the knowledge that she would get in one piece to Kandahar."

Carter, who controls NATO forces in southern Afghanistan, says this isn't the case now. He says British forces need to change that.

Carter says the operation is shifting its emphasis to ensuring public safety - rather than fighting insurgents. He says forces will protect the population where they live, and ensure freedom of movement on key roads.

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Roads were safer in Afghanistan under the Taliban, British general admits:

A senior British general heaped further pressure on Gordon Brown's strategy in Afghanistan today after be admitted the country's roads were safer under the Taliban.

Major-General Nick Carter, who leads Nato forces in the south of the troubled country, said that, before the 2001 invasion, young women could travel alone between major cities without risk of harm.

He said: "The difference, I think we need to be clear, is that when the Taliban were here they did ensure security on the main highways and they did it very effectively.

Roadblock: US and Afghan security forces gather on a Kabul road at the site of a suicide attack

"You could put your daughter on a bus in Kabul sure in the knowledge that she would get in one piece to Kandahar. "That is not the case at the moment, and we need to change that," he told the BBC.

Maj Gen Carter said the emphasis of the Nato operation was now shifting to ensuring the safety of the public, rather than fighting insurgents. "I think that up until relatively recently, probably the summer, we've been very much focused on the insurgency," he said.
"What we are doing now, which is slightly different in terms of approach, is that we are trying to protect the population where he or she lives, and trying to ensure their freedom of movement on some of the key arteries between where they live."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1232888/Roads-safer-Taliban-British-Afghan-general-admits.html