“We have achieved the most important thing, and that is to prevent Afghanistan from being a safe haven for international terrorists,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said speaking at Halifax International Security Forum. “We would like to leave when the conditions are right and in a “coordinated and orderly way.”
The U.S. troops will not leave Afghanistan, only the numbers will be reduced, said the NATO chief. “The U.S. will continue to provide support to the other NATO Allies,” he continued.
NATO would have to make decisions by early next year—whether to stay or leave.
NATO and its allies are in Afghanistan to “make sure” it “never again becomes a safe haven for international terrorists,” said Mr. Stoltenberg. “We strongly support the peace talks.”
“So early next year, we need to make a very hard decision. That’s: whether we leave and risk to lose the gains we have made, but then at least we can be out of Afghanistan; or whether we stay and then continue to be involved in the very challenging and demanding military operation in Afghanistan,” Mr. Stoltenberg said.
The troops withdrawal is a part of the peace pact the United States inked with the Taliban in February. The armed group, in return, has pledged not to allow the country become a safe haven for terrorism.
Earlier last week too, the NATO Secretary General warned of a premature withdrawal of troops, saying it could cost a “high” price.
The price for a “too soon” withdrawal of U.S. and allied troops from the south-Asian country could be “very high”, SG Stoltenberg warned in a statement following the reports that said the U.S. President Trump might settle for a partial reduction of forces in Afghanistan by January, next year.
According to reports as citing officials, the number of U.S. forces in Afghanistan would be reduced from the current count—4,500 troops—to half.
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