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KABUL: NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg said that NATO would continue supporting the Afghan security forces until a sustainable peace is ensured in the country.
He cited the remarks in the sideline of the NATO summit set to be held from 17th to 18th of February in Brussels via zoom. The members of NATO would decide whether to withdraw troops from Afghanistan or to remain. “NATO will not leave Afghanistan,” Stoltenberg said, adding that the Resolute Support does not want to remain in the country for a longtime. The NATO members in the meeting stressed on supporting the Afghan security forces until 2024.
Considering the Afghan peace process as fragile, Stoltenberg called on the Taliban to cut ties with other terrorist groups, reduce violence and halt targeting civilians. He also emphasized on preservation of the achievements gained during the past 20 years.
The US and NATO are irked by the high-level of violence, terming unacceptable while there is no progress on the negotiation table of the intra-Afghan talks.
In the meantime, Afghanistan has recently been hit with an upswing in violence, with the intensification of magnetic bombs blast and hit-and-runs assassinations.
