Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Friday, March 29th, 2024

Rasmussen Denies Accelerating Troops Withdrawal

Rasmussen Denies  Accelerating Troops Withdrawal

KABUL - NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Monday denied that the alliance was speeding up the withdrawal of combat troops from Afghanistan.
Mr Rasmussen insisted that NATO was sticking to the timeline agreed at the Lisbon summit in November 2010 after recent comments from Western and Afghan officials indicated that 2013 was a new target.

At a news conference he said that, "There is nothing new in all this but maybe it is necessary to clarify these timelines because sometimes they are mixed up in a way that creates some confusion."
"We will stick to the Lisbon roadmap and complete transition by the end of 2014," he said.

NATO chief explained that to complete the transition of security responsibility to Afghan troops by the end of 2014, control of the last provinces must be handed over in the middle or the second half of 2013.
"It's not about accelerating the transition process, but it's actually in order to stick to the Lisbon roadmap that we have to take 2013 into account," Rusmussen added.

Before meeting with NATO counterparts in February, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta had indicated that US troops would switch to a training role in 2013, but later stressed that they would continue combat through 2014.
There are around 130,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, 90,000 of them US troops fight insurgent in the country. (Tolo News)