Despite the significant gains Canadian troops have achieved in Afghanistan, Gen. Walter Natynczyk admitted Sunday the country's overall situation is worsening.
Canada's top soldier told CTV's Question Period that insurgent attacks have increased year over year, specifically in some parts of the country.
"You have a worsening security situation, especially localized in three areas -- the Kabul area, in the Regional Command East, where the Americans are, and in the south where we are with the British forces and the Dutch," he said.
The statement appeared to backtrack from what Natynczyk said earlier this month after he completed his first visit to Afghanistan as the Chief of Defence Staff.
On a five-day visit to the region, Natynczyk put a positive spin on security issues in the war-torn country, which has seen a resurgence of Taliban activity. Natynczyk, who became the country's top soldier on July 2, had said the increased violence is negligible.
"We're generally along the same lines as we have been the past few years,'' Natynczyk said at a news conference on July 13 at Kandahar Airfield. "Looking at the statistics, we're just a slight notch -- indeed an insignificant notch -- above where we were last year.''
On Sunday, Natynczyk agreed with statistics presented on Question Period that suggested year-to-year violence was up 34 per cent.
"The statistics you cite are absolutely true," he said.
"On the other hand, when I was in Kandahar, from a soldiers' perspective, what they see are localized, fragile signs of success."
He noted the Taliban "is throwing everything against" NATO troops and Afghan security forces in an effort to undermine the government ahead of next year's elections. Natynczyk reiterated the need for more NATO troops to help quell insurgent violence.
"In a counterinsurgency, it is troop intensive. It's not enough just to clear the Taliban out ... you need to have that security blanket to ensure that there is time for police and the army to have that capacity to address their own security," he said.
Natynczyk said that NATO troops have helped the country make significant improvements. He said Canadians have helped train police officers who are respected by the local population, and Afghan battalions have increasingly taken on roles to protect major regions of the country.
