A hasty pullout of US and allied troops from Afghanistan could see the country become a “platform for international terrorists” again, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg warns.
His blunt message, given in a statement, is in response to reports that US President Donald Trump is planning to accelerate the withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan, where they support a NATO mission, and from Iraq.
“The price for leaving too soon or in an uncoordinated way could be very high,” Stoltenberg says.
“Afghanistan risks becoming once again a platform for international terrorists to plan and organise attacks on our homelands. And ISIS (the Islamic State group) could rebuild in Afghanistan the terror caliphate it lost in Syria and Iraq,” he says.
The warning was unprecedented criticism by Stoltenberg of a Trump decision. Up to now, the NATO secretary general has been careful not to publicly contest statements by Trump relating to the Alliance.
— AFP
American soldiers wait on the tarmac in Logar province, Afghanistan, November 30, 2017. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
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