GEO 436 WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Friday that the Afghan government and its international backers are “making progress” in stabilizing Afghanistan. “We think that we”re making progress, we know how hard it is,” Clinton said during a press conference with Foreign Minister Lene Espersen of Denmark, which contributes troops to NATO in Afghanistan. “The Afghan military and police are improving,” the chief US diplomat said. “We are looking to see more results from some governmental reforms …but it is just not true that we haven”t seen positive accomplishments,” Clinton said. “There’’s a lot of positive indicators,” she said, citing advances in education, health, government capacity, agricultural output, and economic growth. “The story is not written yet,” she added. Clinton also confirmed that she would travel to the Afghan capital of Kabul on July 20 to attend a conference aimed at following up on the international commitments during a summit in London in January. NATO troops and Afghan security forces have for weeks been engaged in the start of an offensive around the southern city of Kandahar aimed at re-establishing central government authority there. The insurgency is intensifying despite the reinforcement of NATO forces, which number 142,000 soldiers.
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