General McChristal and Ambassador Sedwill visit the province of Badghis

Herat, 3 June. The Commander of the International Security and Assistance Force and the NATO Senior Civilian Representative visited today the province of Badghis, in the northern sector of Regional Command West’s area of operations.

General McChrystal, accompanied by general Claudio Berto along with Afghan National Army’s representatives and colonel Miguel Martin Bernardi, performed a tour of the areas of Moqur and Sang Atesh, where Afghan Army’s troops of 207th Corps are engaged in security operations alongside with US and Spanish soldiers.

“This region is crucial for the stability of the country, and the Afghan National Security Forces – shoulder to shoulder with the troops of ISAF – are improving the security situation in the province” said the Commander of ISAF to the local media, “and over the time this will lead to the completion of the Ring Road, eventually linking the province of Badghis to that of Faryab”.

Ambassador Sedwill was welcomed at the airport by the governor of Badghis, Delbar Jan Arman and by colonel Jesus De Miguel, who escorted him in a joint tour focusing on development and governance in the province. After an introductory briefing held at the Spanish Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT), the delegation visited the provincial hospital and the mechanical works in Qal’eh-ye-Naw, two major achievements of the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation - the civilian component of the local ISAF PRT - which has funded several projects in the province, totalling 42 million USD over the last three years.

The tour ended with a meeting between the Senior Civilian Representative and the elders of Badghis at the Governor’s House, where the issues of provincial development and of local communities’ empowerment were briefly discussed.