MONITORING (SW) – NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has expressed the Alliance’s support for Afghanistan in fighting the novel coronavirus pandemic.
He expressed these views following the virtual meeting of the North Atlantic Council in Defence Ministers' session.
Responding to a question, he said some of the personnel in the Resolute Support Mission have been infected with the virus in Afghanistan. “We have actually transported out of Afghanistan those who have been affected. They are getting treatment [in] other places, the NATO soldiers who have been infected. And we are making sure that the soldiers who are coming in are in quarantine, so we are certain that they don’t bring the virus to Afghanistan”, he said.
He said on top of that, NATO is not only protecting its own personnel, but also providing support to the Afghan security forces. “Medical equipment, but also training advice in how to cope with the COVID-19 crisis. So, we maintain our military presence, we continue to put pressure on Taliban, as we also then provide support to the Afghan security forces in fighting the COVID . . . the coronavirus”, he said.
He added NATO is putting pressure on the Taliban by providing support to the Afghan security forces, by maintaining the Resolute Support Mission, which is a train, assist and advise mission and actually following, closely supporting the Afghan forces. “We also have, of course, the US being present, partly in the NATO mission, but the US also has some activities outside the NATO mission. And altogether, this is putting a significant pressure on a Taliban. And, so we don’t . . . we call on them to reduce violence, to fully engage in the peace negotiations, but we do that, not only in words, but also in deeds, by continuing our presence in Afghanistan and continuing to support the Afghan security forces, also with funding”, he said.
Earlier this week, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called on the Taliban to cease the attacks, to fully implement the agreement between the U.S. and the Taliban and to reduce violence because.
He said this at the online pre-ministerial press conference in Brussels. Stoltenberg said it is the only way towards a peaceful negotiated solution in Afghanistan.
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