taosplaza.com

A major conference on Afghanistan this week will conclude that international forces face up to five more years battling the Taliban, a newspaper reported Monday.

Citing a communiqué which it said will end Thursday's meeting in London, the Times said Afghan forces will be given up to half a decade to take responsibility for "physical security."

Continued support from Western troops will be needed until then. The draft statement commits the Afghan troops to "taking the lead and conducting the majority of operations in the insecure areas of Afghanistan within three years and taking responsibility for physical security within five years," according to the paper.

Some of the more stable regions could come under the control of Afghan security forces at the end of this year or early 2011 with support from Western troops, providing conditions are met," the document adds.

The The Ministry of Defense in Britain, which has the second highest contingent of troops in Afghanistan after the United States, said Monday it did not comment on leaked documents.

But it added a decision on pulling out troops would be based on "conditions, not arbitrary timelines."

More than 113,000 international troops are fighting the Taliban under US and NATO command and losing soldiers almost daily, in the conflict which started with the US-led invasion of 2001.