WASHINGTON, December 9 (Sputnik) – NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) Joint Command mission in Afghanistan has officially ended, the US Department of Defense has announced.
"As the Afghan National Security Forces have become increasingly capable, we shift our focus from combat operations to building [Afghan] systems and processes to ensure long-term sustainability," ISAF commander, Army Gen. John F. Campbell, said Monday as quoted by the US Department of Defense.
"You've done your job well — so well that you've worked yourself out of a job," Campbell told members of the Joint Command at the casing ceremony held Monday at the command's headquarters at Kabul International Airport.
According to the Department of Defense, ISAF is now transitioning to the NATO-led Resolute Support mission, which begins on January 1, 2015.
"This is a historic transformation and reflects the progress that our coalition has made with our Afghan partners," Campbell said.
ISAF has been active in Afghanistan since late 2001. It was deployed to the country in order to help Afghanistan rebuild government institutions and security forces, as the US-led coalition troops were fighting to remove the Taliban from power
