By Tommy Hansen
COPENHAGEN
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has told Afghan commandos to prepare to take control of security in Afghanistan from next year, according to NATO.
During a visit on Thursday to the Afghan National Army Special Operations Command in the Afghan capital of Kabul, he said, according to NATO's website: "For over a year, Afghan soldiers and police have led security operations across the country, and at the end of this year, you will take full charge of security."
"But you will not stand alone - NATO and our partners will continue to support you," he stated.
The Secretary General is scheduled to meet Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah to discuss NATO’s continued commitment to Afghanistan after 2014. during his trip.
Security responsibility
He has also met General John Campbell, Commander of ISAF and other senior ISAF officers, NATO Senior Civilian Representative Ambassador Maurits Jochems and other representatives of the Kabul diplomatic corps.
The command, comprising 10,500 troops, is part of the 350,000-strong Afghan National Security Force which ISAF has helped build up, according to NATO.
Afghan soldiers and police have led security operations across the country since June 2013 and will assume full responsibility for security as of 1 January 2015.
Turkish aid
Meanwhile, Turkey has promised Afghanistan $150 million in development aid over a three-year period from 2015.
The move, announced in Beijing last Friday, was one of a raft of measures which Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said was aimed at helping the beleaguered country to get "back on its feet".
Cavusoglu told a conference on Afghanistan in the Chinese capital on October 31 that Ankara would also make a further donation of €60 million ($75 million) "to train Afghan security forces in addition to training already given in Turkey" and increase its number of troops in the country from around 700 to 1,100 after 2016.
Turkey had initially announced the pledge at the 2012 Tokyo Conference on Afghanistan.
The 11-year NATO-led security mission in the country - in which Turkey twice took command - will come to a close at the end of 2014, with Afghan troops and police assuming full responsibility for its security.
www.aa.com.tr/en
