News Analysis: U.S.-led coalition forces leave Afghanistan with avowed mission still unfinished

KABUL, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- The U.S.-led coalition forces formally ended their combat mission in Afghanistan on Sunday but its primary mission of wiping out the Taliban and other militant groups in the country has been left unfinished.

However, some Afghan political and military analysts said that the foreign troops are leaving Afghanistan with its mission in the war on terror still incomplete.

"The target of the U.S.-led military alliance in Afghanistan was to destroy the Taliban and al-Qaidaterrorist networks. They invaded Taliban regime 13 years and overthrew the group's brutal reign but the Taliban are more powerful today than the past and presently fighting government forces in several fronts," Kabul University professor Sayed Abrahim Darwishian told Xinhua.

"The invasion of U.S.-led coalition forces against terrorists in 2001 in Afghanistan had raised the ray of hope among Afghans to embrace lasting peace in their country but unfortunately the country is still in the grip of instability and insurgency," retired Army General Atiqullah Omarkhil, a respected political analyst, told the local media recently.

Omarkhil said that while the U.S.-led NATO coalition forces started the operation in Afghanistan 13 years ago precisely to destroy terrorist networks and ensure lasting peace in Afghanistan, none of their noble objectives have been achieved. He said that the Taliban, al-Qaida and other insurgent groups are still active across the country.  Read More at xinhuanet