NATO names Allen to succeed Stavridis as supreme commander

US General John Allen will take over as NATO supreme commander and be replaced as head of alliance forces in Afghanistan by Joseph Dunford, currently US Marine Corps deputy commander, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Wednesday. Allen, who succeeds Admiral James Stavridis to a post traditionally held by a US officer, led the NATO campaign in Afghanistan from July 2011. Panetta made the announcement after a meeting of NATO defence ministers in Brussels and both nominations by US President Barack Obama are subject to US Senate confirmation. Allen played a key role in countering the Iraq insurgency during 2006-08 and took over from General David Petraeus in Afghanistan to oversee a surge in US troop levels to force back the Taliban who appeared to be making ground. In Afghanistan, Allen commanded a coalition force from 50 different countries, giving him the experience to deal with the often sensitive and conflicting wishes of NATO's 28 member states and 22 partners. In Iraq, Allen pushed alliances with local Sunni tribes to tame an insurgency which at one stage looked as if it could not be brought under control. Patraeus, his then commander in Iraq, later expanded the tactic to all of the country. Dunford will assume command of 68,000 US troops who make up the bulk of the coalition force of some 100,000 as the Afghan army takes on increasing responsibility for security and NATO ends its combat mission in 2014.