News / Afghanistan

NATO to keep 12k troops in Afghanistan in 2016

Tuesday, 01 December 2015 7:06 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 01 December 2015 7:29 PM ]

In this photograph taken on August 30, 2015, US soldiers patrol during the final day of a month-long anti-Taliban operation by the Afghan National Army (ANA) in various parts of Nangarhar Province, at an Afghan National Army base in Khogyani District. (AFP photo)

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has decided to keep some 12,000 troops in Afghanistan for 2016, abandoning plans to cut its troop levels by the end of the current year.

The foreign ministers of the 28-member Western military alliance agreed on the move during a meeting in Brussels, Belgium, on Tuesday.

This comes as NATO's Resolute Support advice and training mission was due to end in 2015.

"Today, NATO allies and Resolute Support operational partners have agreed to sustain the Resolute Support presence ... during 2016," said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, adding that the number of troops would be "12,000 approximately."

The soldiers include about 7,000 American forces while the rest are from the rest of NATO member states and allies such as the non-NATO member Georgia.

The United States and its allies invaded Afghanistan on October 7, 2001 as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror. The offensive removed the Taliban from power, but after 14 years, insecurity remains in the country.

Taliban militants are still launching deadly attacks across Afghanistan while the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group is also wreaking havoc in the country.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks during a media conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Tuesday, December 1, 2015. (AP photo)

Stoltenberg, meanwhile, claimed that NATO is in Afghanistan to prevent the country from becoming again “a safe haven for terrorists.”

US President Barack Obama also announced in October that his administration would keep some 10,000 US troops in Afghanistan for the next year since Afghan forces "are still not as strong as they need to be."

Unlike Washington, NATO has never set a date for ending the "Resolute Support" training mission in Afghanistan.

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