Admiral Mike Mullen, the head of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said that progress in Afghanistan was significant but still there are greater challenges of good governance and better service delivery. He was speaking in a press conference in Kabul yesterday. Admiral Mullen said progress in war ravaged country is significant and there is apparent decline in violence. Admiral Mike Mullen hailed the troops on the front lines in southern Afghanistan. Violence has been at its highest in southern Afghanistan particularly after the death of the President Karzai's brother Ahmad Wali Karzai in Kandahar. Afther the announcement of security transition process in Afghanistan insurgents have also launched a wave of high-profile attacks against key government officials and allies. More than 140,000 foreign troops, including 97,000 American soldiers, are fighting insurgents in Afghanistan for almost a decade since the fall of the Taliban in Kabul in 2001. Last month the US began withdrawing its 33,000 troops. Ten thousand of the American troops are to leave Afghanistan by the end of this year, and the remainder by the end of September next year.