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Gates: 2011 May be Turning Point in Afghanistan

21 April 2011 20:16 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The U.S. defense secretary says the United States and its allies may be reaching a turning point in the war in Afghanistan, APA reports quoting voanews.com website.

Robert Gates told a reporters at the Pentagon on Thursday that an intensified campaign against the Taliban has driven them out of areas they have controlled for years.

He said if the allied forces keep the Taliban from retaking the areas when the fighting again intensifies this summer, then by the end of 2011, â€œwe will have turned the cornerâ€ in the war.

The United States sent troops into Afghanistan shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden and others who organized the attacks.

The U.S. has nearly 100,000 troops in Afghanistan. President Barak Obama has promised to begin withdrawing some of those troops in July.