No change in NATO strategy in Afghanistan: NATO
Mon Feb 06, 12:24 pm
The fifth and final stage of the process of transferring security responsibility from NATO to Afghan forces will start from the mid 2013, NATO official said.
Mr. Simon Gass; NATO representative in Afghanistan that has recently returned from the NATO Defense Ministers’ Summit says that there has not been any changes in NATO’s strategy in Afghanistan and the NATO forces will continue their war strategy till the end of year 2014.
“The security responsibilities of entire Afghanistan will be handed over to the Afghan security forces by mid 2013, and then NATO would have supportive role” Mr. Gass added.
Mr. Gass said currently 36% of military operations are led by the Afghan forces and efforts are underway to increase their parts in these operations.
While talking about the exact number of the Afghan security forces, Mr. Gass said that this issue is under discussion because it depends on international assistance.
He said “The Afghan security forces must have appropriate quantity and capabilities. The number of Afghan security forces depends on the assistance of international community and we are trying to find out opportunity to have the support of international community.”
While recently, some western countries had asked the NATO officials to complete the security transition process by the end of 2013 and had also suggested two hundred and thirty thousand (230,000) soldiers for the Afghan forces.
Early withdrawal of foreign troops and earlier security handover to the Afghan forces has created many concerns among the Afghan people.
While some military experts believe that the earlier completion of security transition process requires more time and to maintain peace and stability in the country, the number of the security forces should also be increased.
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