Battalion 1, 501st Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, watches CH-47 Chinook helicopters fly overhead during a dust storm at Forward Kushamond Operations Base, Afghanistan, July 17, while preparing for an air assault mission.
Photographs of the US Army
WASHINGTON – NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday that the alliance had not yet decided whether its 10,000 troops in Afghanistan would leave the country by May, in accordance with a peace agreement between the United States and the Taliban.
“Violence must be reduced, and the Taliban must stop cooperating with international terrorist groups planning terrorist attacks in our countries,” Stoltenberg told reporters at a two-day virtual meeting of NATO defense ministers.
In February last year, the United States struck a deal with the Taliban that would introduce a permanent ceasefire and further reduce the U.S. military’s footprint from about 13,000 troops to 8,600 by mid-July last year.
By May 2021, all foreign forces would leave the war-weary country, according to the agreement.
“Our goal is to make sure that we have a lasting political agreement that can make it possible for us to leave in a way that does not undermine our main goal and prevent Afghanistan from becoming a refuge again. [for terrorists]”This is also the reason why we will continue to assess the situation before making any final decision on our future,” Stoltenberg said.
Jens Stoltenberg, the 13th Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, talks to the media at NATO Headquarters on 11 February 2020 in Brussels, Belgium.
Thierry Monasse / Getty Images
“Most of the troops come from European allies and partner countries. We will do what is necessary to ensure that our troops are safe,” Stoltenberg said when asked if the alliance was prepared for violence if the Taliban agreement would be violated.
There are about 2,500 American soldiers in the country. Currently, the US is to withdraw members of the US service from Afghanistan by May 1, 2021.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told NATO members that the Biden administration “is conducting a thorough review of the terms of the US-Taliban agreement to determine whether all parties have agreed to those terms,” according to a Pentagon reading.
“He assured the allies that the United States will not undertake a hasty or disorderly withdrawal from Afghanistan,” the statement added.
The Pentagon has previously said that the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan will be conditioned by the Taliban’s commitment to support the peace agreement reached last year.
The wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria have cost US taxpayers more than $ 1.57 trillion since September 11, 2001, according to a Department of Defense report. The war in Afghanistan, which is now the longest conflict in America, began 19 years ago and cost American taxpayers $ 193 billion, according to the Pentagon.
Stoltenberg also said on Thursday that the NATO alliance has decided to expand its security training mission in Iraq. The military alliance agreed to increase its footprint from 500 employees to about 4,000.
“Our presence is based on conditions and the increase in the number of troops will be incremental,” he said, adding that the request for an extended mission was made by the Iraqi government.