An official with Irish aid group Concern has warned against a possible US withdrawal from aid efforts following the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami.
Ms Áine Fay, Indonesia director for Concern, said her gut feeling was that the civilian side was not yet ready to take over.
"The American military, the military hardware has been so useful," she said, adding that she was "a bit taken aback that they're thinking of withdrawing it already".
Ms Fay's comments came after a US announcement yesterday that US forces would begin immediately transferring responsibility for relief operations to the "appropriate host nations and international organisations."
Some aid groups expressed concern that the move came too quickly, as tens of thousands of survivors from the December 26th tsunami that struck a dozen nations are still in need of food aid and shelter.
Tallies of the dead from the disaster have been estimated to be as high as 221,000.
Speaking in Bangkok, Thailand, the UN special co-ordinator for tsunami relief, Ms Margareta Wahlstrom, said she hoped the military would not leave immediately because the relief operations depend on its "resources and machinery".
She added, however, that, "In a number of weeks to a month the military will be able to phase out and (the operation) be supported by an entirely civilian infrastructure."
More than 11,000 US military personnel backed by 16 US ships are involved in providing relief support in the tsunami's aftermath. Since the operation began, they have delivered more than 8,600 tons of relief supplies to the affected region.
AP