ANTALYA, Turkey - Afghanistan on Wednesday welcomed NATO’s announcement to maintain its presence in a new civilian-led mission after the current Resolute Support mission ends around the end of next year.

The alliance announced the decision to maintain its presence in Afghanistan beyond 2016 during a meeting of alliance foreign ministers in this southern city of Antalya, Turkey.

Foreign ministers from 42 countries are attending the two-day conference that began on Wednesday. The first day was specified for Afghanistan, in which Afghan Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani was present.

In his brief chat with journalists after the meeting, Rabbani welcomed the alliance’s decision to continue its presence in Afghanistan and said NATO had renewed its pledge of a long-term cooperation with Afghanistan.

He said the meeting evaluated the alliance’s training mission in Afghanistan and agreed to maintain a presence beyond 2016.

He said the heads of states of NATO countries would meet in Poland next year and would discuss their financial support for Afghanistan.

Rabbani thanked NATO and the allied nations for assisting Afghanistan for the past more than a decade and rendering huge sacrifices.

He said the NATO’s current training mission had strengthened the abilities of Afghan security forces to maintain security across Afghanistan on their own and deal with challenges and threats. (Pajhwok)