The coalition led by the United States in Afghanistan is handing over control to forces from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on Monday.
The NATO force, composed of British, Canadian and Dutch troops, will be coping with an area in which hundreds of people have been killed. The security situation in southern Afghanistan has deteriorated drastically over the past few months.
Ahead of NATO’s scheduled expansion in southern Afghanistan, American and Afghani forces killed 20 armed men and foiled a Taliban ambush in the south on Saturday, the U.S. military said.
The U.S.-led anti-terror coalition has been in the area for nearly five years, since the Taliban was pushed from power.
About 6,000 NATO troops will be deployed in the south, but there will remain an estimated 20,000 American troops in the country. NATO forces will be in charge of creating stability while the U.S. forces will be tasked with counter-terrorism activities.
The new deployment is seen as a key challenge for NATO, which wants to demonstrate its ability to bring stability to a country immersed in a long-standing conflict.