Petraeus: Pullout of NATO forces will occur district-by-district, not province-by-province

Petraeus: International pullout will be gradual

KABUL, Afghanistan — The top NATO commander in Afghanistan says international forces will gradually hand over security to Afghan forces in small areas of the country as security allows rather than giving them responsibility for whole provinces at once.

In a wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press and two other news agencies on Tuesday, Gen. David Petraeus also said he shares Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s concern about extremist threats outside Afghanistan. The Karzai government has been increasingly vocal in recent days, saying the real fight is not in Afghan villages, but across the border in Pakistan.

Petraeus says he seeking clarification of the recent remarks, but doesn’t think it reflects diminished Afghan support for his counterinsurgency strategy.