Kubis: Afghan mission on track

Anti-American violence and growing unrest does little to disrupt the overall mission in Afghanistan, the UN special envoy to the country said. A US Army staff sergeant allegedly left his base in Kandahar province March 11 before dawn, walked to two neighboring villages and killed 16 people. The shootings strained already-tense US-Afghanistan relations, with Afghan President Hamid Karzai calling for coalition forces to remain on base and for an earlier transition of security duties to Afghan forces. Jan Kubis, UN special envoy to Afghanistan, said the transition process in the country was proceeding as planned despite heightened tensions. "Recent events should not overshadow positive trends and developments," he said in a statement. "The transition so far has been on track and on target and the Afghanistan National Security Forces have proven that they are up to the task." International forces operating in Afghanistan are taking the steps necessary to hand security responsibility over to national security forces by 2014. Kubis added that while there was a "near universal recognition" that the United Nations should continue to play a role in Afghanistan, the Afghan people have stated clearly that it's "time to wind down this war."