WEBVTT 00:00.040 --> 00:02.151 Ladies and gentlemen , thank you very 00:02.151 --> 00:04.318 much for coming this afternoon . We're 00:04.318 --> 00:06.151 grateful for your time and we're 00:06.151 --> 00:08.207 grateful for your spending some time 00:08.207 --> 00:10.850 with us today . At approximately 9:30 00:11.060 --> 00:14.930 a.m. Afghan and coalition forces once 00:14.930 --> 00:17.820 again defeated an attempt an attempt by 00:17.820 --> 00:19.598 the insurgents to push back the 00:19.598 --> 00:21.970 progress of the Afghan people and their 00:21.970 --> 00:24.770 security forces and the government and 00:24.770 --> 00:26.770 the progress that they're making in 00:26.770 --> 00:28.800 Afghanistan . The attacks beginning 00:28.800 --> 00:31.020 yesterday afternoon were designed to 00:31.020 --> 00:33.870 derail transition , whereby the Afghan 00:33.870 --> 00:35.426 security forces will assume 00:35.426 --> 00:37.760 responsibility for security of the 00:37.760 --> 00:39.871 Afghan people during the next several 00:39.871 --> 00:42.240 years . Countrywide , By the end of 00:42.240 --> 00:45.590 2014 , the insurgent attack did not 00:45.590 --> 00:48.770 succeed . It failed . Uh this attack 00:48.770 --> 00:50.937 had no operational impact whatsoever , 00:51.340 --> 00:53.640 resulting only in the brutal and savage 00:53.640 --> 00:55.870 taking of innocent Afghanistan Afghan 00:55.870 --> 00:58.900 life now throughout the indiscriminate 00:58.910 --> 01:02.590 insurgent RPG and small arms attack . I 01:02.590 --> 01:04.590 once again , I was impressed by the 01:04.590 --> 01:06.720 courage and the ability and the 01:06.720 --> 01:08.887 fighting spirit of the Afghan forces . 01:09.490 --> 01:12.500 They responded quickly and capably 01:12.650 --> 01:14.530 containing the insurgents and 01:14.530 --> 01:16.752 systematically eliminating the threat . 01:16.840 --> 01:19.580 Our reports indicate seven insurgents 01:19.580 --> 01:21.747 were killed in the clearing operations 01:21.747 --> 01:24.240 and for insurgents served as suicide 01:24.240 --> 01:27.120 bombers . Further reports indicate that 01:27.120 --> 01:30.170 five Afghan national police and 11 01:30.170 --> 01:32.930 Afghan civilians were killed . More 01:32.930 --> 01:35.570 than half of them Children . Another 19 01:35.580 --> 01:38.570 Afghan civilians were wounded . A small 01:38.570 --> 01:40.792 number of coalition forces were injured 01:40.792 --> 01:42.792 in the attack , but at this time no 01:42.792 --> 01:45.260 ISAF personnel have died as a result of 01:45.260 --> 01:48.760 the attack . We honour those brave men 01:49.330 --> 01:51.470 and all of the innocent afghans who 01:51.470 --> 01:54.050 lost their lives in the cause of Afghan 01:54.050 --> 01:56.161 peace and security and we express our 01:56.161 --> 01:58.910 sincere condolences to their families 01:58.910 --> 02:01.120 for their tragic losses . We will 02:01.120 --> 02:03.230 continue working with our afghan 02:03.230 --> 02:05.452 partners towards transitioning security 02:05.452 --> 02:07.674 responsibility throughout the country . 02:08.120 --> 02:09.731 They have demonstrated their 02:09.731 --> 02:11.953 determination and ability to respond to 02:11.953 --> 02:14.780 insurgent attacks and to mitigate the 02:14.790 --> 02:18.110 impact of these vicious acts . This is 02:18.110 --> 02:19.950 not the first such attack by the 02:19.950 --> 02:22.530 insurgents and we do not expect that it 02:22.530 --> 02:25.040 will be the last the insurgents are on 02:25.040 --> 02:26.762 the defensive . They're losing 02:26.762 --> 02:28.818 territory , they're losing support , 02:29.240 --> 02:31.407 they're losing the confidence in their 02:31.407 --> 02:33.950 leaders who choose to give orders from 02:33.950 --> 02:36.510 the comfort of foreign lands to 02:36.510 --> 02:38.600 compensate the insurgents seek to 02:38.600 --> 02:40.410 frighten the afghan people into 02:40.410 --> 02:42.600 submission through spectacular or high 02:42.600 --> 02:45.410 profile attacks . It's not working and 02:45.410 --> 02:48.080 it will not work . The insurgents will 02:48.080 --> 02:50.980 not win . They will lose . We will 02:50.980 --> 02:53.560 prevail . I'd like to introduce my 02:53.560 --> 02:55.470 colleague here NATO and the ISIS 02:55.510 --> 02:57.677 headquarters , Ambassador Simon Gass , 02:57.677 --> 02:59.788 a senior civilian representative . So 03:02.640 --> 03:06.130 well , thank you . Uh let me begin by 03:06.140 --> 03:08.470 joining General Allen in his 03:08.470 --> 03:12.210 condemnation of yesterday's attack and 03:12.210 --> 03:14.890 in offering my condolences to all of 03:14.890 --> 03:17.860 the Afghan citizens who lost their 03:17.860 --> 03:20.180 lives and their families and their 03:20.180 --> 03:23.970 loved ones . Yesterday's attack was a 03:23.970 --> 03:27.370 serious incident and that is shown by 03:27.370 --> 03:30.130 the number of afghan citizens who were 03:30.130 --> 03:33.050 killed , including a number of Children 03:33.940 --> 03:36.540 and of course attacks like these are 03:36.540 --> 03:39.750 designed to cause fear and 03:39.750 --> 03:42.780 uncertainty , but we need to put 03:42.780 --> 03:44.860 yesterday's events into perspective 03:45.840 --> 03:48.950 this attack was a fleeting event . It 03:48.950 --> 03:52.580 came and it went , it disrupted 03:52.580 --> 03:55.810 life in parts of Kabul for a number of 03:55.810 --> 03:59.260 hours but afghans are resilient people . 04:00.340 --> 04:02.562 The city is quickly returning to normal 04:03.140 --> 04:05.362 people are going about their business . 04:05.840 --> 04:07.784 The government , the government is 04:07.784 --> 04:09.840 getting on with the job of governing 04:09.840 --> 04:13.160 the country . The real effect of these 04:13.160 --> 04:15.920 attacks is to remind Afghan citizens 04:16.440 --> 04:19.530 why they are so determined to continue 04:19.530 --> 04:21.810 to fight an insurgency which 04:21.810 --> 04:25.390 deliberately kills innocent afghan men , 04:25.820 --> 04:29.240 women and Children . As general Allen 04:29.240 --> 04:31.700 has said , the Afghan national Security 04:31.700 --> 04:34.250 forces responded quickly and 04:34.250 --> 04:38.150 effectively mhm . That illustrates why 04:38.150 --> 04:40.206 we have confidence in the transition 04:40.206 --> 04:42.080 process which will transfer the 04:42.080 --> 04:45.490 security lead to those afghan security 04:45.490 --> 04:48.690 forces . We are doing transition 04:48.700 --> 04:51.850 because we can not because we must 04:53.440 --> 04:55.960 Afghanistan is a little like a boxer . 04:56.940 --> 04:59.280 It's going to take some blows along the 04:59.280 --> 05:01.980 way , but it will keep coming forward 05:02.370 --> 05:05.910 and it will prevail over its enemy and 05:05.910 --> 05:08.440 the international community will stay 05:08.440 --> 05:11.290 in Afghanistan's corner , Not only up 05:11.290 --> 05:14.160 to 2014 , but afterwards as well , 05:15.040 --> 05:17.680 we are Afghanistan's partners for the 05:17.680 --> 05:20.660 long term at the bonN conference in 05:20.660 --> 05:22.827 december . The international community 05:22.940 --> 05:25.260 will renew its commitment to stick with 05:25.260 --> 05:28.060 Afghanistan after transition is over . 05:28.640 --> 05:31.230 Thank you and I think now we are ready 05:31.230 --> 05:33.860 to take questions Yes sir , please . 05:35.040 --> 05:38.740 Yeah , you say that the 05:38.750 --> 05:40.806 insurgents who were on the defensive 05:40.840 --> 05:43.340 many afghan , many couples , not 05:43.340 --> 05:45.640 laughable after what we had to endure 05:45.640 --> 05:48.420 over the past 20 hours . You step away 05:48.420 --> 05:50.550 from your military for a moment , 05:51.440 --> 05:54.900 explain to us how however the afghan 05:54.910 --> 05:56.960 population is expected to deal with 05:56.960 --> 05:59.660 this . This came to the town . Well , I 05:59.660 --> 06:01.604 think the afghan population can be 06:01.940 --> 06:04.450 confident in its security forces which 06:04.450 --> 06:07.490 responded very quickly and effectively , 06:08.340 --> 06:11.940 I would tell you that the target which 06:11.940 --> 06:14.960 ultimately was reduced by the high end 06:15.340 --> 06:17.950 afghan police units that responded was 06:17.950 --> 06:20.172 a very difficult target . Actually , it 06:20.172 --> 06:22.339 was an unfinished building high rise . 06:22.340 --> 06:25.030 It was cleared largely at night under 06:25.030 --> 06:27.210 very adverse weather conditions , 06:27.640 --> 06:29.580 cleared very deliberately , very 06:29.580 --> 06:31.524 methodically . The reason being to 06:31.524 --> 06:33.524 control the amount of fire that was 06:33.524 --> 06:35.358 being used so as not to endanger 06:35.358 --> 06:38.560 innocent afghan civilians or property . 06:39.140 --> 06:41.362 So they can take a lot of have a lot of 06:41.362 --> 06:43.960 confidence that in the response , the 06:43.960 --> 06:46.230 afghan units that did respond 06:46.240 --> 06:49.420 demonstrated a significant capability 06:49.670 --> 06:51.837 to reduce that target and to eliminate 06:51.837 --> 06:54.440 the threat . The afghan citizens should 06:54.440 --> 06:56.551 also know that they can sleep well at 06:56.551 --> 06:58.718 night . Now , as the ambassador said , 06:58.840 --> 07:02.450 this was a complex attack and these 07:02.450 --> 07:04.672 will happen in Afghanistan . These will 07:04.672 --> 07:06.760 happen because the enemy seeks to 07:07.140 --> 07:09.020 terrorize the people and cal the 07:09.020 --> 07:11.620 population . But what the population 07:11.620 --> 07:13.620 needs to understand is that for the 07:13.620 --> 07:15.842 last 30 days , for example , and before 07:15.842 --> 07:18.500 that as well , Afghan units in 07:18.500 --> 07:22.010 partnership with coalition forces have 07:22.010 --> 07:24.010 been going after the enemy networks 07:24.010 --> 07:25.899 because we have known about these 07:25.899 --> 07:27.843 threat streams and have been going 07:27.843 --> 07:29.843 after these networks systematically 07:29.843 --> 07:31.899 throughout the month of Ramadan . Uh 07:31.899 --> 07:33.899 indeed , and we knew that the enemy 07:33.899 --> 07:35.954 intended to attack the population to 07:35.954 --> 07:38.288 attack Kabul during that period of time , 07:39.140 --> 07:41.251 They still managed to get in and they 07:41.251 --> 07:43.473 only have to be right once . We have to 07:43.473 --> 07:43.450 be right every single time . And we 07:43.450 --> 07:45.506 were right an awful lot during those 07:45.506 --> 07:47.228 last 30 days in the numbers of 07:47.228 --> 07:49.900 potential Attackers whose plots were 07:49.900 --> 07:53.860 foiled , suicide attacks were disrupted 07:54.340 --> 07:56.840 and enemy networks that might have 07:56.850 --> 07:58.794 provided attacks or opportunity or 07:58.794 --> 08:01.060 support for others were unsuccessful . 08:01.440 --> 08:03.662 So the Afghan people should not only be 08:03.662 --> 08:05.384 proud of how their their units 08:05.384 --> 08:07.384 performed in reducing this threat . 08:07.384 --> 08:09.700 They should also be proud that their 08:09.710 --> 08:12.390 forces were active in disrupting the 08:12.390 --> 08:15.050 enemy threat networks as well . You see , 08:15.940 --> 08:16.940 yes , ma'am , 08:23.840 --> 08:26.260 good to meet you . I research 08:27.640 --> 08:31.560 fingers are big point where which 08:32.740 --> 08:35.660 price see 08:37.140 --> 08:39.029 the building under construction . 08:41.840 --> 08:43.860 Okay , wondering 08:45.740 --> 08:48.350 what do you think ? Chief ? Yes . 08:50.140 --> 08:53.990 Mr and Mhm . Bring 08:53.990 --> 08:56.250 what was once a rule search . 08:58.140 --> 09:00.050 Yeah , 2nd attack and called , 09:05.240 --> 09:09.070 see , well , I think you had two 09:09.070 --> 09:10.959 questions . One was , is this the 09:10.959 --> 09:13.830 Haqqanis and the other is the Pakistani 09:13.830 --> 09:17.440 safe havens . Um We 09:17.440 --> 09:19.910 believe by virtue of the complexity of 09:19.910 --> 09:22.660 this attack and the way it was executed , 09:22.660 --> 09:24.960 that this probably was Connie 09:25.440 --> 09:29.060 instigated attack . Uh 09:29.530 --> 09:31.697 The Haqqanis have been attacking Kabul 09:31.697 --> 09:34.240 for a long time because Kabul for so 09:34.240 --> 09:37.050 much of this country represents , not 09:37.050 --> 09:39.620 just the spiritual Heartland of this 09:39.620 --> 09:42.450 country , it represents the future and 09:42.450 --> 09:44.506 the colonies have been attacking the 09:44.506 --> 09:46.506 government of Afghanistan . They've 09:46.506 --> 09:48.450 been attacking the institutions of 09:48.450 --> 09:48.340 Afghanistan , they've been attacking 09:48.340 --> 09:51.600 the people of Afghanistan . And many of 09:51.600 --> 09:54.000 the attacks , the high profile attacks 09:54.000 --> 09:56.450 that have been inflicted upon Kabul in 09:56.450 --> 09:58.930 the last year or so have been 09:58.940 --> 10:00.996 perpetrated by the Haqqani network . 10:01.640 --> 10:03.696 With respect to the safe havens . We 10:03.696 --> 10:05.918 talked to the pakistanis all the time . 10:05.940 --> 10:08.710 We desire to partner with them to 10:08.710 --> 10:11.500 control insurgent infiltration across 10:11.500 --> 10:14.180 the border on some occasions it works . 10:14.550 --> 10:17.710 But in particular , we seek to have the 10:17.720 --> 10:19.720 Pakistani government placed greater 10:19.720 --> 10:22.030 pressure on the Haqqani network to keep 10:22.030 --> 10:24.197 them on the east side of the border to 10:24.197 --> 10:26.490 keep them in Pakistan so that we can 10:26.490 --> 10:28.880 prevent these kinds of attacks . High 10:28.880 --> 10:31.047 profile attacks that target so many of 10:31.047 --> 10:33.830 the Afghan civilians . Well over 200 10:33.840 --> 10:36.062 have been killed by the Haqqani network 10:36.062 --> 10:38.062 in this in this city alone . And so 10:38.062 --> 10:40.118 we'll continue to talk at a national 10:40.118 --> 10:42.118 level with the Pakistani government 10:42.118 --> 10:44.284 will continue to ask at a policy level 10:44.284 --> 10:46.118 for them to restrain the Haqqani 10:46.118 --> 10:48.340 network , But if the Honey network gets 10:48.340 --> 10:50.340 across the border , we'll deal with 10:50.340 --> 10:52.451 them as we find them and we deal with 10:52.451 --> 10:54.507 them as we find them frequently . Uh 10:54.507 --> 10:54.490 not just in the Kabul , not just around 10:54.490 --> 10:56.601 Kabul , but in other places of Afghan 10:56.601 --> 10:58.823 Afghanistan as well . And I'll defer to 10:58.823 --> 11:01.046 my ambassador and colleague if you have 11:01.046 --> 11:03.157 anything you'd like to offer . Well , 11:03.157 --> 11:05.379 I'd simply like to add that there is of 11:05.379 --> 11:07.212 course , an intensive diplomatic 11:07.212 --> 11:09.490 dialogue with Pakistan on this subject . 11:09.490 --> 11:11.157 Of course , the government of 11:11.157 --> 11:13.268 Afghanistan is involved in talks with 11:13.268 --> 11:15.268 its neighbor . There are trilateral 11:15.268 --> 11:18.060 talks and a number of other key players 11:18.070 --> 11:21.900 are talking to Pakistan and trying to 11:21.900 --> 11:25.130 make the case for greater Pakistani 11:25.140 --> 11:28.470 action to diminish attacks 11:28.480 --> 11:31.740 from the safe havens in Pakistan . Of 11:31.740 --> 11:34.000 course we shouldn't forget also that 11:34.000 --> 11:35.833 Pakistan itself has an extremely 11:35.833 --> 11:38.110 dangerous and difficult insurgency to 11:38.110 --> 11:40.360 deal with on its side of the border . 11:40.740 --> 11:42.796 The case we make is that that should 11:42.796 --> 11:46.550 strengthen Pakistan's wish to ensure 11:46.550 --> 11:48.494 that that does not spill over into 11:48.494 --> 11:51.970 Afghanistan as well . Thank you . Yes , 11:51.970 --> 11:55.970 ma'am . I've never 11:56.040 --> 11:59.810 had a voice . Yes , we've been told 11:59.820 --> 12:03.200 by yes , people in 12:04.940 --> 12:08.340 Peter this is also that was the ground 12:08.450 --> 12:12.260 has conceived okay . And you 12:12.260 --> 12:16.090 mentioned basically it's succeed . But 12:16.100 --> 12:18.800 a lot of people that see projecting our 12:18.800 --> 12:22.700 own idea of success military gold 12:22.710 --> 12:25.360 on them . Whereas in fact , if you look 12:25.370 --> 12:27.710 at what's happening Yeah , back in 12:27.710 --> 12:30.060 Kabul and headlines around the world 12:30.070 --> 12:34.060 dominated by oh , siege . 12:34.940 --> 12:37.560 That speech afghans that should 12:40.440 --> 12:43.790 the rocket planted . Uh I was bought by 12:43.790 --> 12:46.820 the Taliban Houston example of massive 12:46.820 --> 12:50.100 publicity . They made a lot of his 12:50.300 --> 12:52.860 heart will feel that they're not safe 12:52.860 --> 12:54.990 in their homes . So I just wanna 12:54.990 --> 12:57.660 difficult responsible . Yeah , Well , 12:57.670 --> 12:59.503 I'll offer the ambassador of the 12:59.503 --> 13:01.448 opportunity as well . It's how you 13:01.448 --> 13:04.000 measure success . And let's just put 13:04.000 --> 13:05.889 the attack aside for a moment and 13:05.889 --> 13:08.100 measure success by so many of the 13:08.100 --> 13:09.822 things that are going right in 13:09.822 --> 13:12.550 Afghanistan today , We just celebrated 13:12.630 --> 13:15.620 or acknowledge the 10th anniversary of 13:15.620 --> 13:18.060 the anniversary of the attack on the 13:18.060 --> 13:20.180 United States . The day before that 13:20.180 --> 13:23.290 attack . Uh There were no female 13:23.290 --> 13:25.550 Children in any school in Afghanistan . 13:26.040 --> 13:28.262 There has been so much progress in that 13:28.262 --> 13:30.207 area . Just alone , there has been 13:30.207 --> 13:32.318 progress in governance , there's been 13:32.318 --> 13:34.318 progress and economic opportunity , 13:34.318 --> 13:36.484 there's been progress in power , there 13:36.484 --> 13:36.300 has been progress throughout the 13:36.300 --> 13:39.080 country . If you measure it purely in 13:39.080 --> 13:41.820 military terms and let me finish what 13:41.820 --> 13:43.987 I'm gonna say if you measure it purely 13:43.987 --> 13:46.098 a military terms of the growth of the 13:46.098 --> 13:48.098 NSF , what they do every single day 13:48.140 --> 13:50.029 throughout Afghanistan to provide 13:50.029 --> 13:53.040 security to the population to keep the 13:53.050 --> 13:55.272 insurgents out of the population . That 13:55.272 --> 13:58.330 have given large numbers of afghans in 13:58.330 --> 14:00.680 the south . Large numbers of afghans in 14:00.680 --> 14:02.402 the north and in the west . An 14:02.402 --> 14:04.402 opportunity for a relatively stable 14:04.402 --> 14:07.480 life that is real progress and their 14:07.480 --> 14:09.980 military has come a very very long way 14:09.980 --> 14:11.980 in just two years now , the enemy's 14:11.980 --> 14:14.650 desire is to get inside the population 14:14.650 --> 14:16.706 periodically because they don't have 14:16.706 --> 14:19.039 the capacity to challenge the A . N . S . 14:19.039 --> 14:21.206 F . Across the entire country and in a 14:21.206 --> 14:23.261 high profile attack to terrorize the 14:23.261 --> 14:25.483 population and I'll grant that they did 14:25.483 --> 14:27.539 get an I . O . Win on this . But the 14:27.539 --> 14:29.761 reality is these are few and infrequent 14:29.761 --> 14:32.550 attacks . By and large , the A . N . S . 14:32.550 --> 14:34.661 F . In partnership with the coalition 14:34.661 --> 14:37.860 and increasingly on their own 14:38.010 --> 14:40.290 unilaterally the A . N . S . F . Is 14:40.290 --> 14:43.590 achieving a significant capability to 14:43.590 --> 14:46.150 deal with the insurgency . And as I 14:46.160 --> 14:48.520 mentioned a moment ago in the period of 14:48.520 --> 14:50.687 time leading up to this attack , there 14:50.687 --> 14:52.710 was significant and sf activity 14:53.140 --> 14:55.084 operating against these networks , 14:55.084 --> 14:57.307 operating against these threats streams 14:57.307 --> 14:59.307 and they reduce them in significant 14:59.307 --> 15:01.418 amounts . The afghans won't know that 15:01.418 --> 15:03.584 because those attacks never occurred . 15:03.584 --> 15:05.751 But there were real threat streams and 15:05.751 --> 15:07.584 real potential attacks that were 15:07.584 --> 15:09.473 blunted and were disrupted by the 15:09.473 --> 15:11.640 activities both unilaterally of afghan 15:11.640 --> 15:13.770 high end units and afghan units that 15:13.770 --> 15:15.770 were in partnership with their ISAF 15:15.770 --> 15:18.320 partners , Mr Ambassador , Anything 15:18.320 --> 15:20.480 you'd like to add ? Well as I said in 15:20.480 --> 15:22.424 my opening remarks of course these 15:22.424 --> 15:25.700 attacks are designed to cause fear and 15:25.700 --> 15:28.140 to cause loss of confidence and of 15:28.140 --> 15:30.540 course it was an extremely frightening 15:30.540 --> 15:32.540 event for the citizens of Kabul who 15:32.540 --> 15:34.540 were involved in it . But let's ask 15:34.540 --> 15:36.762 ourselves , what is the effect which it 15:36.762 --> 15:39.130 has on their opinion . Does this make 15:39.130 --> 15:41.186 them feel that we should be fighting 15:41.186 --> 15:43.186 less hard against an enemy which is 15:43.186 --> 15:45.074 willing to target men , women and 15:45.074 --> 15:47.074 Children ? Or does it cause them to 15:47.074 --> 15:49.350 have greater resolve to ensure that the 15:49.350 --> 15:52.660 country returns to stability without 15:53.040 --> 15:55.530 the insurgents returning to power ? I'm 15:55.530 --> 15:59.020 confident that it's the latter . Now of 15:59.020 --> 16:00.909 course we understand of course we 16:00.909 --> 16:02.964 understand that this is not a purely 16:02.964 --> 16:06.400 military campaign as long as there are 16:06.410 --> 16:09.720 safe havens to which the insurgents can 16:09.720 --> 16:12.840 return , they cannot be completely 16:12.840 --> 16:15.630 defeated in a military sense , all 16:15.630 --> 16:17.580 insurgencies end with a political 16:17.580 --> 16:20.460 process and that is why so many people 16:21.040 --> 16:24.040 are working to investigate the 16:24.040 --> 16:26.810 possibilities of a peace process which 16:26.810 --> 16:29.250 must be led of course by the government 16:29.250 --> 16:31.470 of Afghanistan . Now in the end , the 16:31.470 --> 16:33.581 only people who can decide whether to 16:33.581 --> 16:35.550 join that peace process are the 16:35.550 --> 16:38.300 insurgents themselves . But we 16:38.300 --> 16:41.760 certainly hope that a political process 16:41.760 --> 16:43.927 which respects the red lines which the 16:43.927 --> 16:46.149 government of Afghanistan has laid down 16:46.149 --> 16:48.370 can go ahead at some point in the 16:48.370 --> 16:50.570 future and therefore lead to a more 16:50.570 --> 16:53.580 definitive end to this conflict , which 16:53.580 --> 16:55.691 has taken the lives of so many Afghan 16:55.691 --> 16:57.070 citizens . Fine . 16:59.540 --> 17:01.150 Yes , sir . Just 17:04.140 --> 17:08.070 No . Yes , 17:08.070 --> 17:10.360 sir . Yes . 17:11.840 --> 17:15.510 Yes , point out this is this is it for 17:15.510 --> 17:16.510 a living , 17:19.440 --> 17:23.170 just conciliation , some 17:23.640 --> 17:26.850 Yes . Mhm . 17:27.540 --> 17:30.850 Because there is no military Yes , 17:31.640 --> 17:35.360 Yes , they are designed to join . 17:36.440 --> 17:39.870 Mhm . Okay , well , I 17:39.870 --> 17:42.960 think two things firstly , as you know , 17:42.960 --> 17:45.370 in insurgencies of this type , it is 17:45.370 --> 17:48.230 not unusual to see a surge of violence 17:48.400 --> 17:50.360 just at the time when people start 17:50.370 --> 17:52.690 thinking about returning or coming to 17:52.690 --> 17:56.110 the negotiating table because groups 17:56.110 --> 17:59.750 tend to try to maximize their leverage 17:59.760 --> 18:01.927 in those negotiations . That is not to 18:01.927 --> 18:04.093 predict that we are on the verge of an 18:04.093 --> 18:06.316 early and substantial negotiation , but 18:06.316 --> 18:09.110 it would not be inconsistent with that , 18:09.310 --> 18:11.477 in my view . The second point I'd like 18:11.477 --> 18:15.000 to make is that I think if and when uh 18:15.000 --> 18:17.760 huh negotiations of that sort do take 18:17.760 --> 18:21.170 place , we will see quite a change in 18:21.540 --> 18:23.760 the position of some insurgent groups 18:24.060 --> 18:26.171 as they see that a train is beginning 18:26.171 --> 18:28.393 to leave the station and they will have 18:28.393 --> 18:30.504 the choice of either jumping on it or 18:30.504 --> 18:32.727 being left behind . As I said earlier , 18:32.727 --> 18:34.616 this is a decision which only the 18:34.616 --> 18:36.671 insurgents themselves can make . The 18:36.671 --> 18:38.616 government of Afghanistan has made 18:38.616 --> 18:40.782 clear its readiness to talk as long as 18:40.782 --> 18:43.060 certain basic conditions are respected . 18:44.800 --> 18:47.840 And I would add that the uh the Taliban 18:47.840 --> 18:49.840 movement is not monolithic , as you 18:49.840 --> 18:51.784 point out , there is the Taliban , 18:51.784 --> 18:54.007 there is the Haqqanis , there are other 18:54.007 --> 18:56.229 elements within the Taliban . And while 18:56.229 --> 18:58.340 the Haqqanis may or may not desire to 18:58.340 --> 19:00.340 to engage in peace conversations or 19:00.340 --> 19:02.340 peace talks , there are others that 19:02.340 --> 19:04.340 probably are . The other end of the 19:04.340 --> 19:06.562 spectrum of reconciliation is something 19:06.562 --> 19:08.729 called reintegration and reintegration 19:08.729 --> 19:10.729 is occurring all over Afghanistan . 19:10.729 --> 19:12.951 Some of it is formal , some of the some 19:12.951 --> 19:14.840 of it is informal , but there are 19:14.840 --> 19:17.910 several 1000 um Taliban fighters who 19:17.910 --> 19:20.900 have reintegrated again about 2400 or 19:20.900 --> 19:23.940 so uh formally uh many others that are 19:23.940 --> 19:25.829 either in the process or who have 19:25.829 --> 19:28.210 reintegrated informally uh that 19:28.210 --> 19:30.210 contributes to the peace process as 19:30.210 --> 19:32.377 well . And when you have enough of the 19:32.377 --> 19:34.377 fighters who seem to be engaged and 19:34.377 --> 19:36.210 interested in returning to their 19:36.210 --> 19:38.432 society , rejoining their communities , 19:38.432 --> 19:40.432 ultimately contributing to the long 19:40.432 --> 19:43.030 term progress of Afghanistan that will 19:43.030 --> 19:45.197 in fact have an effect upon the senior 19:45.197 --> 19:47.141 leadership as well and perhaps can 19:47.141 --> 19:49.850 induce them to look at a reconciliation 19:49.850 --> 19:52.620 or to have discussions with the Afghan 19:52.620 --> 19:54.620 government . And I believe we had a 19:54.620 --> 19:56.453 question over here . Yes , sir . 19:58.440 --> 20:02.010 So there's so 20:02.010 --> 20:03.950 much room . What 20:08.840 --> 20:12.350 America Dennis , 20:14.940 --> 20:17.850 you have you never called this ? 20:19.640 --> 20:23.560 Uh huh . What ? 20:24.340 --> 20:28.040 But with Yeah . 20:29.140 --> 20:31.050 Yeah . Yeah . Well , 20:33.070 --> 20:36.590 police martin and co director , 20:37.840 --> 20:40.590 he said , body the feminine there's 20:40.590 --> 20:43.820 media market continue . Yes . 20:45.020 --> 20:47.280 Was explain to them and 20:48.940 --> 20:50.940 to harm argument story . That's why 20:55.640 --> 20:58.560 success . Sorry . Yes . 21:03.840 --> 21:06.007 The A . N . S . F . Has many different 21:06.007 --> 21:08.960 components . The N . A . 21:09.840 --> 21:12.580 Has been working very hard around the 21:12.590 --> 21:14.701 Afghan National Army has been working 21:14.701 --> 21:16.812 very hard around the outside of Kabul 21:16.812 --> 21:20.500 has effectively disrupted a number of 21:20.500 --> 21:23.730 the insurgent networks in particular , 21:23.740 --> 21:25.907 some of the Haqqani elements that have 21:25.907 --> 21:29.740 sought to penetrate the defenses 21:29.750 --> 21:31.700 of Kabul to penetrate the security 21:31.700 --> 21:35.580 measures of Kabul inside Kabul . While 21:35.580 --> 21:37.810 there are some Afghan National Army 21:37.810 --> 21:39.866 elements , there are Afghan National 21:39.866 --> 21:41.810 Police , several different types . 21:41.810 --> 21:44.810 Those elements cooperated as well with 21:44.810 --> 21:48.750 the DNA and with the coalition In 21:48.760 --> 21:50.660 addressing the threat stream and 21:50.660 --> 21:52.493 addressing the threats that have 21:52.493 --> 21:56.040 emerged over the last 30-45 days . As I 21:56.040 --> 21:58.440 mentioned that there was a real intent 21:58.450 --> 22:01.290 by the insurgent elements in particular , 22:01.290 --> 22:04.000 the Haqqani network to launch attacks 22:04.010 --> 22:07.670 inside the city once again , I'll tell 22:07.670 --> 22:09.781 you that there were a number of these 22:09.781 --> 22:12.570 attacks that were detected disrupted 22:12.940 --> 22:16.230 and halted as a direct result of Afghan 22:16.240 --> 22:18.580 national Security forces working either 22:18.580 --> 22:20.760 unilaterally on their own , developing 22:20.760 --> 22:22.760 the intelligence and conducting the 22:22.760 --> 22:24.927 operation by themselves or doing it in 22:24.927 --> 22:28.410 partnership with the ISaf forces . This 22:28.410 --> 22:30.700 attack did occur . The attack was 22:30.700 --> 22:32.920 quickly isolated in an unfinished 22:32.930 --> 22:36.550 building where the units that 22:36.550 --> 22:39.460 responded were highly trained , 22:39.840 --> 22:43.550 capable Afghan police units , 22:43.980 --> 22:46.320 special weapons and tactics units , you 22:46.320 --> 22:48.970 will hear them sometimes be called That 22:48.970 --> 22:50.914 did take a long time to clear that 22:50.914 --> 22:52.970 building . Any high rise building of 22:52.970 --> 22:55.260 multiple floors like that is going to 22:55.260 --> 22:58.500 take quite a while to clear it . They 22:58.500 --> 23:00.780 ultimately cleared in darkness . They 23:00.780 --> 23:03.230 have their well equipped with both 23:03.230 --> 23:06.560 night vision capabilities and also well 23:06.560 --> 23:08.671 equipped with command and control but 23:08.671 --> 23:10.782 they cleared it floor by floor , they 23:10.782 --> 23:12.949 cleared it deliberately . They cleared 23:12.949 --> 23:14.893 it methodic methodically when they 23:14.893 --> 23:17.130 applied fires , they applied fires only 23:17.130 --> 23:19.352 as was necessary to reduce the threat . 23:19.740 --> 23:21.907 And yes , it took a long time climbing 23:21.907 --> 23:25.250 16 stories in the dark under both fire 23:25.250 --> 23:28.480 and heavy weather conditions . Rain is 23:28.480 --> 23:31.370 difficult for any high end Tier one 23:31.370 --> 23:33.550 Unit and these Afghan units did it . 23:34.140 --> 23:37.510 They did it well , some of the members 23:37.510 --> 23:40.750 were wounded and our condolences go out 23:40.750 --> 23:43.083 to them and of course to their families . 23:43.083 --> 23:46.230 But in the end , uh huh . If an Afghan 23:46.240 --> 23:49.890 citizen had the chance to see in action 23:50.070 --> 23:52.890 these great high end units that have 23:52.890 --> 23:54.946 been developed over the last several 23:54.946 --> 23:57.168 years and are continuing to become more 23:57.168 --> 23:59.334 professional by the day . I think they 23:59.334 --> 24:01.390 would be proud of them . This attack 24:01.390 --> 24:03.501 was a high profile attack . We regret 24:03.501 --> 24:05.840 that it occurred , but we will continue 24:05.850 --> 24:08.550 to pressure the enemy's networks in 24:08.550 --> 24:10.717 partnership with our Afghan partners , 24:10.717 --> 24:12.772 with the idea of preventing these in 24:12.772 --> 24:14.772 the future . But as I said before , 24:14.772 --> 24:16.828 they have occurred in the past , one 24:16.828 --> 24:18.772 occurred yesterday , and we should 24:18.772 --> 24:20.661 expect that the enemy is going to 24:20.661 --> 24:22.883 continue to try to get inside this city 24:22.883 --> 24:24.606 and attack the institutions of 24:24.606 --> 24:26.717 government and the innocent civilians 24:26.717 --> 24:28.717 of Afghanistan because that is what 24:28.717 --> 24:32.060 they do Mr best or anything else . 24:32.740 --> 24:34.962 Okay , ladies and gentlemen , thank you 24:34.962 --> 24:35.860 very much for your time this afternoon .