President Ghani, NATO secretary general exchange views on Afghanistan over phone

Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg exchanged views on the situation in and the alliance cooperation with the conflict-ridden country on Thursday night, the Presidential Palace said in a statement here Friday.

The statement said while assuring the alliance's continued support for Afghanistan, the NATO chief said that following recent U.S. decision to keep the level of troops in Afghanistan, more NATO-member states would follow the step to continue their military support within the framework of NATO-led Resolute Support (RS) mission in Afghanistan.

In the wake of increasing militancy and the brief capture of Kuduz by Taliban late in September, U.S. President Barack Obama announced last week Washington's plans to keep 5,500 U. S. troops in Afghanistan into 2017 and to maintain the current 9, 800 forces throughout most of next year.

Obama had previously planned to reduce the current level of troops in Afghanistan to around 5,500 by the end of 2015 and withdraw all troops by the end of 2016 when his presidency comes to an end, leaving only about 1,000 soldiers to provide security for U.S. diplomatic mission in the country.

Germany and Turkey have already welcomed the U.S. decision and announced to keep troops in Afghanistan within the framework of NATO-led RS mission.

President Ghani, during the telephone conversation, pointed out that Afghanistan attaches great importance to its relations with NATO, stressing that NATO's cooperation is significant in strengthening his country's security forces capability.

During the talks, both sides agreed that Afghanistan sends a high ranking delegation to Brussels to explain the Afghan government's reforms and development programs with regard to defense and security.

NATO member states will in its conference on Dec. 2 in Brussels discuss the modality of alliance cooperation with Afghanistan, the statement added. Endit