NATO troop level in Afghanistan to rise: Stoltenberg

KABUL, the alliance chief says, ruling out a return to combat operations.

The alliance would meet Gen. John Nicholson’s demand for 16,000 troops to fill the training mission, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg promised in an interview on Wednesday.

He told the Associated Press the NATO troop level would rise from 13,000 to around 16,000.

 “I’m absolutely confident that we will have sufficient forces when we move into 2018. We are still receiving pledges and announcements about more troop contributions from allies.”

However, the troops would not take part in combat operations, he explained, saying they would focus on training and assisting the Afghan security forces.

Stoltenberg acknowledged: “There’s still a lot of violence in Afghanistan but at the same time we’ve seen a lot of important. The Afghans are now able to respond every time the insurgents attack...”

PAN Monitor/mud