General John Allen, has taken over the command of US-led international troops in Afghanistan from General David Petraeus, hours after a senior aideto Afghan President Hamid Karzai was killed in another high-profile assassination.
Allen was promoted to a four-star general shortly before the handover ceremony in Kabul, the Afghan capital, on Monday, to replace his former superior Petraeus.
Petraeus is ending his year of service at the post to head up the Central Intelligence Agency.
At the ceremony, Allen said US forces' drawdown, which started earlier this month, did not mean international forces were easing up in their campaign to defeat the Taliban.
"It is my intention to maintain the momentum of the campaign,'' Allen said."There will be tough days ahead. I have no illusions about the challenges ahead.''
Al Jazeera's Bernard Smith, reporting from Kabul, said questions remain about the ability of the Afghan forces assecurity transition becomes the focus.
"This week, we are seeing the transition take place from foreign forces to Afghan forces. The concern here all the time is whether the Afghan police and national army are ready," he said.
"Many believe they are not."
Assaults and assassinations
U.S. officials have trumpeted success in reclaiming Taliban strongholds in southern Afghanistan and training Afghan securityforces, as signs that they are finally making progress toward peace in Afghanistan.
But violent attacks havecontinued, including a number of high-profile assaults and assassinations in recentweeks.
Sunday night's killing of the president's senior adviser Jan Mohammad Khan, a former governor of the southern Uruzgan province, follows the killing last week of Ahmed Wali Karzai, probably the most powerful man in southern Afghanistan and younger half-brother of the Afghan president.
An Afghan member of parliament, Mohammad Hashim Watanwal, also died in a raid on Khan's home by two gunmen wearing suicide vests.
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