Report - United States Department of Defense

UNCLASSIFIED
further the Afghan-led peace process and reconciliation and to advance regional peace and
stability. The United States and other coalition nations also began transporting a small amount
of materiel into and out of Afghanistan through the Pakistani ground lines of communication
(GLOC), greatly reducing the transportation time and cost of using other routes. As of the end of
the reporting period, the Pakistani GLOC was capable of handling all of the cargo headed into
and out of Afghanistan. Afghanistan-Pakistan military-to-military coordination has
strengthened, including joint border operations and the possibility of future officer training
exchanges. Nonetheless, cooperation along the border remains uneven. Some Pakistani
insurgents have fled into Afghanistan and have then conducted attacks into Pakistan. Despite
increased bilateral communication in some areas, frequent Afghan and Pakistani accusations of
cross-border artillery strikes into each other’s territory persist.
Pakistan has conducted counterinsurgency operations mainly against Pakistan-focused militants
and not against the Afghan-focused insurgents located in western Pakistan. In some areas,
however, these operations have restricted the operating space and resources of these insurgents.
Pakistan has also provided support to the Afghan-to-Afghan reconciliation process.
U.S. - Afghanistan Relations
The ongoing security transition and preparations for the upcoming political transition have
created a set of challenging issues in bilateral relations between the United States and
Afghanistan. Bilateral relations reached a high point at the meeting between President Karzai
and President Obama on January 11, 2013. The two presidents reaffirmed the Afghan-American
relationship and commitment to our shared strategy. They discussed the significant security
progress of the last two years and the transition to ANSF lead; the impressive development gains
in Afghanistan over the past decade and the need for continued, sustainable progress;
preparations for the upcoming election and Afghan plans to ensure that it is a fair and inclusive
electoral process; and the regional situation including building strong ties between Afghanistan
and its neighbors. They also agreed on a way forward for transfering the Afghan detainees held
by US Forces-Afghanistan (USFOR-A) at the U.S. Detention Facility at Parwan. Finally, both
presidents committed to concluding the BSA (which both nations began negotiating in
November 2012) as soon as possible, reaffirming that such an agreement is in both countries’
interests.
Bilateral relations faced challenges in the months after the presidential meeting. In late February
2013, President Karzai ordered U.S. forces out of Wardak Province in response to accusations
that they were organizing Afghan forces who were abusing Afghans. After subsequent
investigations revealed that the accusations of abuse were false, ISAF and the Afghan
government reached an agreement on a plan to accelerate security transition in Wardak to the
ANSF.
In early March, disagreements over implementation of the way forward decided in January 2013
delayed the scheduled handover of Afghan detainees held by the United States at the Detention
Facility at Parwan. Following in-depth discussions, the U.S. and Afghan governments signed a
new memorandum of understanding (MOU) on March 25 to transfer custody over Afghan
detainees and control of the detention facility to the Afghan government. The MOU provides for
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