a two-day nato summit was held this week in lisbon, joined by afghan president hamid har zie and bank e moon. isaf has 130,000 troops deployed in the country. the taliban is putting up strong resistance. as of september the number of deaths among allied troops had already competed last year's figure, the worst on record. at the summit, nato leaders agreed that isaf will start transferring control in the first half of next year. combat missions are due to end by the end of 2014. >> thank you very much. as i stand before you today, we are moving in the direction of transition to afghan leadership and ownership. we are moving in the direction of conducting peace talks under afghan leadership, backed and understood and endorsed by the international community. >> the mounting death toll in the 9-year-old war is attracting criticism within nato countries. it is aimed at the growing opposition, but with no sign of progress in the war, many are skeptical about the target for ending combat operations. despite the agreement to pull out front line troops it will continue to provide long-term ass