NATO has said it will take another month to respond to Washington’s demands for alliance allies to send more troops to Afghanistan, AFP reported.
During a meeting of the NATO Military Committee in Tirana in Albania on Saturday, defense chiefs from 29 member nations recognized the need to send in more troops, said the committee’s chairman General Petr Pavel.
However, no decision will be taken until they have consulted with their respective governments, Pavel told reporters after General Joe Dunford, the US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and General John Nicholson, the top US commander in Afghanistan, presented their requests, stated AFP.
The meeting comes months after Pentagon chief Jim Mattis told NATO allies they must “finish” the job in Afghanistan.
“The bottom line is that NATO has made a commitment to Afghanistan for freedom from fear and terror, and freedom from terror demands that you can’t let this be undone,” he said in June.
AFP reported that allies are expected to give a firm answer when the committee reconvenes in October, NATO Supreme Allied Commander US General Curtis Scaparrotti told reporters. NATO says “more than 15” countries have pledged additional support, but has yet to give details on extra troop numbers.
Last month US President Donald Trump cleared the way for the deployment of thousands more US troops to Afghanistan.
He did not specify how many soldiers would be sent but officials have said the additional troops could number about 4,000, on top of 11,000 already in the country.
