US Marine General Joseph Dunford took over command of NATO-led forces in Afghanistan in a ceremony held Sunday under tight security, pledging to help bring a "brighter future."
Dunford took over from General John Allen as commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) which is planning to end more than a decade of combat operations there in late 2014.
"Today is not about change, it's about continuity," Dunford said at the Kabul event, also attended by General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff.
"I'll endeavour to continue the momentum of the campaign and support the people of Afghanistan as they seize the opportunity for a brighter future," Dunford said.
The ceremony was attended by a host of senior Afghan and NATO officials, including Afghan Defence Minister Bismullah Khan Mohammadi and German Army General Hans Lothar Domrose.
Allen - who commanded the NATO-led troops for 19 months in Afghanistan - is awaiting nomination as supreme allied commander in Europe, say White House officials.
He took command of ISAF in July 2011 from General David Petraeus. Allen was recently cleared of misconduct over a scandal that led Petraeus to resign as head of the Central Intelligence Agency.
Mohammadi, the Afghan defence minister, said that Allen's support to the country's military forces had enabled them to go through "three successful security transitions."
He said that Allen's efforts to target Taliban militants had led to the deaths and capture of "many terrorists and Taliban leaders."
The counter-insurgency campaign had seen "a considerable drop to a minimum in the number of casualties in the civilian population."
Allen said that Afghan security forces were improving and taking the lead in more areas as the alliance readies to pull out troops.
The departing general also said that Afghanistan will never again be a safe haven for terrorists.
As NATO and US forces largely pull out combat forces by the end of next year, Afghan police and soldiers are slowly taking the lead.
They are currently in the fourth phase of a security transition, at the end of which they are due to police and safeguard territory that covers 90 per cent of the Afghan population.