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KABUL (SW): The NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said the level of foreign troops in Afghanistan would be surged from current level of around 13000 to 16000.
Addressing journalists in Brussels ahead of the meeting of the North Atlantic Council at the level of Defence Ministers, he said NATO needs to strengthen the Resolute Support Mission (RSM) to help the Afghans break the stalemate, to send a clear message to the Taliban they will not win on the battleground, the only way they can achieve anything is by sitting down at the negotiation table and be part of a peaceful negotiated settlement.
Around 13,000 troops from 39 different countries currently serve in the Resolute Support Mission. The United States is already increasing its commitment as part of the new South Asia Strategy. And many other NATO allies and partners will also send more troops in the months to come to support Afghanistan’s efforts against international terrorism and for peace and reconciliation.
The NATO Secretary General said the Afghan Air Force and the Special Forces would be further strengthened.
There will be more troops. Current level is around 13,000, the new level will be around 16,000… so far indications are roughly half US, half non-US,” he added. But Stoltenberg insisted there would be no return to combat operations. “We are focusing on training the Afghan special operations forces, which have proven so key in the fight against the insurgents,” he said.
Stoltenberg urged Afghanistan’s neighbours, particularly Pakistan to help cooperate for peace in Afghanistan.
Earlier this week, the NATO Senior Civilian Representative in Afghanistan Ambassador Cornelius Zimmermann in an exclusive interview with Salam Watandar said it is clearly understood that peace in Afghanistan can only be brought about if there is full and constructive cooperation of all Afghanistan’s neighbours. “What does that mean? A constructive cooperation with neighboring countries, of course, is incompatible with giving sanctuaries to terrorist elements”.
http://salamwatandar.com/english/Article.aspx?a=35695
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