BRUSSELS (SW): The NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said this western military alliance is firmly committed to its Resolute Support Mission (RSM) in Afghanistan.
He said this following the meeting of the North Atlantic Council at the level of Defence Ministers on deterrence and defence He told journalists during this ministerial meeting, NATO focused on the fight against terrorism, and threats stemming from the Middle East and North Africa, besides the general debate about the future structure of NATO.
“NATO has played a key role in the fight against terrorism for many years. I think 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, adding the reason why NATO is in Afghanistan is to prevent Afghanistan from becoming a safe haven for international terrorists.
“And there are many different international terrorist groups today in Afghanistan and the reason why we have decided to continue to stay in Afghanistan with 13,000 troops to train, assist and advise the Afghan National Army and Security Forces is to enable them to fight terrorism, is to enable them to stabilize their own country and I strongly believe that the best weapon we have in the fight against terrorism is to train local forces enabling them to fight terrorism”, the NATO Secretary-General said.
He stressed it is more viable and effective to enable local forces to fight terrorism than extend NATO’s combat mission. Stoltenberg acknowledged NATO’s mission in Afghanistan has some shortfalls, “General Nicholson has pointed at some of them and we will constantly address and follow the situation closely and I discuss this regularly with General Nicholson and this spring we will begin to discuss the future of Resolute Support Mission based on a review and assessment of the mission, the challenges and the need for NATO forces in Afghanistan”.
Last week, Gen. John Nicholson, the commander of US and international forces in Afghanistan, told the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee that thousands more troops are needed to help the Afghan army, which will help break 'a years-long stalemate' in the country.
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