(CNN) -- The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan said the troop surge last year "inflicted enormous losses" on militants, helped weaken terror networks and led to unprecedented discord among their leaders.
Gen. David Petraeus offered his assessment of the Afghan war in a letter to troops Tuesday.
Coalition and Afghan troops have made progress in Kabul, a noteworthy development because one-fifth of the population lives in the capital, according to Petraeus.
"Now, in fact, the insurgents are increasingly responding to our operations ... and there are numerous reports of unprecedented discord among the members of the Quetta Shura, the Taliban senior leadership body," he wrote.
The letter, released the same day President Barack Obama gave his State of the Union address, warns of a difficult road ahead.
"In sum, 2010 was a year of significant, hard-fought accomplishments," Petraeus wrote. "The year ahead is likely to be a tough one, too."
Obama has promised to begin a gradual withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan starting in July, a pledge he reiterated during the State of the Union address.
"This year, we will work with nearly 50 countries to begin a transition to an Afghan lead. And this July, we will begin to bring our troops home," he said Tuesday.
Officials have said the goal is to end combat operations and hand off security control to Afghans in 2014.
The president has also defended his decision to increase the U.S. military commitment in Afghanistan -- a decision criticized by some liberal members of his own party. The United States added about 30,000 more troops last year.
"We face huge challenges in Afghanistan," Obama said. "But it's important that the American people know that we are making progress and we're focused on goals that are clear and achievable."
Obama has said the U.S. campaign in Afghanistan will continue long after the deadline.
"We are not suddenly, as of July 2011, finished with Afghanistan," he said after a meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai last year. "This is a long-term partnership."
Last year was the deadliest for coalition and U.S. troops in Afghanistan since the war started nine years ago. Coalition troop deaths totaled 708 in 2010. Of those, 498 American service members died.
Coalition troops are under pressure to reinforce security in all parts of the country, officials said.
"As Karzai has made clear, the Kabul security bubble needs to be extended into neighboring provinces," Petraeus wrote.
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