The United States Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta says that his country is “winning” the war in Afghanistan.

The United States Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta says on Wednesday that his country is “winning” the war in Afghanistan.

Despite the 1855 occupation soldiers killed in the war-torn country since the US-led invasion in 2003, the US Defense Chief boasts and says his country is “winning”.

During a visit to Afghanistan, Panetta reviews the war effort between Kabul and Washington,  which is on track to recall 33,000 troops by the end of the next year and is shifting its focus to an advisory role in “training” Afghan security forces.

"We're moving in the right direction and we're winning this very tough conflict," he told troops at Forward Operating Base Sharana, 56 kilometers from the Pakistan border, in the eastern province of Paktika.

Panetta talks about the challenges that are facing the troops as saying: "Are there challenges out there? You're damn right, there are challenges. Are we going to be able to take on those challenges? You're damn right we will," Panetta told the troops.

"Ultimately here in Afghanistan, we will be able to establish a country that is able to govern and secure itself, we will make sure that the Taliban will never be able to find safe haven here, that Al-Qaeda will never again be able to find safe havens here."

2828 NATO occupation soldiers have been killed since the 2003 invasion, 1855 of the troops are US, according to website icasualties.
This year 547 NATO troops have been killed in the war-torn country, 407 of them are US.

The NATO casualties in Afghanistan since the 2003 US-led invasion