North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), is willing to continue training and advising security forces in Afghanistan into 2017, Chief of the Military Alliance said on Friday.
The NATO Foreign Ministers have agreed to sustain the Resolute Support Mission beyond 2016 during talks in Brussels, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told journalists.
“Our military authorities will now address the details”, he said.
Several countries participating in the NATO mission had initially planned to whittle down their presence in Afghanistan this year.
However, Afghan government forces struggled with attacks by Taliban insurgents after taking over full responsibility for their country’s security in January 2015.
In September, the rebels managed to temporarily overrun the northern provincial capital of Kunduz.
Just fewer than 13,000 troops from 39 countries are taking part in the Resolute Support training mission, including some 7,000 soldiers from the United States.
The country is planning to halve its troop contribution by the end of this year.
Afghan Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani said that the Resolute Support troop levels beyond 2016 would be based on conditions on the ground.
The NATO ministers on Friday also discussed financing Afghan security forces beyond 2017.
Stoltenberg said he was confident that the alliance will be able to deliver firm commitments to continue funding for the Afghan forces throughout 2020 when NATO leaders meet for a summit in July.
“This multi-year pledge of solid support not only reassures Afghans of the critical assistance we will need in the coming years to further consolidate our democratic gains.
“It also sends a clear and strong message of defiance to terrorists who destabilise Afghanistan and undermine international peace”, Rabbani said.
The U.S. estimates that Afghanistan needs about five billion dollars a year for its security forces.
The country saw 13 years of international combat operations prior to the launch of Resolute Support.
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