Future of NATO’s Afghan Mission Depends on Outcomes of Peace Talks: SG

The future of NATO’s mission in Afghanistan will depend on the outcome of peace talks involving Taliban insurgents, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said, following the reported progress in the U.S.-Taliban latest round of negotiations.

“The future force level of NATO troops is very much dependent of course on the outcome of those talks,” Stoltenberg told reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels, but he underlined that the negotiations are far from over.

“It’s too early to pre-empt the outcome of the talks,” Stoltenberg said. “There’s still much to be done before a peace deal is in place.”

NATO took charge of the international military effort in Afghanistan in 2003 in its most ambitious operation ever. It launched a military training effort in 2015 once it had phased out overt combat operations, but after a reduction in force strength, troop numbers have gradually climbed again to more than 16,000 personnel.

Despite the presence of U.S. and NATO troops, the conflict remains at a stalemate.

The progress in peace talks would possibly offer the United States and its allies a way to end their presence and put an end to the nearly two decades of war in Afghanistan.