Nicholson Says Insurgents Will Have Choice to Either Reconcile, Die or Life in Remote Areas

BRUSSELS – General John Nicholson, commander of NATO’s Resolute Support (RS) mission and U.S. forces in Afghanistan says the insurgent groups in the country will have a “choice to either reconcile, die or life in the remote areas”.

Speaking with Araina News Nicholson said on Thursday that the U.S.-led RS mission would improve “the offensive capability of the Afghan army” in order to be able to force the Taliban and other insurgent groups into remote areas of the country and retake control of 80 percent of the population.

He said that in order to accomplish this the Afghan government and the alliance need to work together based on a four-year roadmap plan designed by President Ashraf Ghani’s administration.

According to General Nicholson, the roadmap would enhance the capability and size of the Afghan special police units, the commando and the air forces to overcome their enemies.

On combating corruption which exists within the Afghan defense and security institutions, he said “we have a long way to go.”

He emphasized that major corruption exist in the area of personnel and fuel, but they are trying to prevent it by biometrically enrolling every security personnel and by controlling the fuel distribution.

“We are now biometrically enrolling every police officer in the [Afghan] ministry of interior , so that there can be no more fake identities and stealing of pay. We are controlling the fuel distribution inside the ministry of interior much more closely to prevent the diversion of fuel,” he added.

But overall the top U.S. general emphasized on replacement of the current military leadership with what he called “merit-based” selection in overcoming the issue of corruption.