Afghan security forces have lost control over a small percentage of the terrain they previously held, but are getting better at repelling the Taliban overall, a top US general said Friday.
Kabul now directly controls about 64 percent of the country's population of 30 million, General John Nicholson, the chief US and NATO commander in Afghanistan, said -- down slightly from 68 percent he cited earlier this year.
The Afghans now no longer under government control are not in the hands of the Taliban, but live in areas that are being "contested," he said.
"While the enemy controls slightly more terrain than before, they do not control more of the population than they did in April," Nicholson said.
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