KABUL - NATO has decided to stay in Afghanistan with 13,000 troops to train, assist and advise Afghan security forces to defeat terrorism and stabilise the war-torn country.
Jens Stoltenberg, the alliance secretary-general, reiterated the commitment during a question-answer session at a pre-ministerial meeting press conference in Brussels.
“NATO has played a key role in the fight against terrorism for many years. We have to remember that our biggest military operation ever, the operation in Afghanistan, the purpose of that operation is to fight terrorism,” he said.
International troops were in Afghanistan to prevent the country from becoming a safe haven for international terrorist groups again, he added.
“There are many different international terrorist groups today in Afghanistan and that is the reason why we have decided to continue to stay in Afghanistan with 13,000 troops…”
Stoltenberg believed the best weapon they had in the fight against terrorism was to train and enable local forces to combat the scourge.
About the deployment of more forces, he said: “We are firmly committed to our Resolute Support Mission and heads of state and government made last year a decision to continue our military presence in Afghanistan...”
Stoltenberg, however, insisted on the training mission, hoping it would produce results as currently Afghan forces were in charge of security and it was due to the train and advise mission.
“I, for instance, met with some pilots in the Afghan Air Force and it was great to see them being trained by NATO trainers enabling them to develop their own air force.”
He said NATO would discuss the future of Resolute Support mission this spring based on review and assessment, the challenges and the need for forces in Afghanistan.(Pajhwok)