U.S Defense Secretary James Mattis has said that the U.S will review its strategy on Afghanistan, days after Taliban insurgents stormed the 209 Shaheen Army Corps base in northern Balkh province.
He said that one of the reasons of his visit to Afghanistan was to assess the situation and report back to U.S President Donald Trump about the situation in the country.
He said that 2017 will be another tough year for Afghan security forces; however he reiterated that the U.S will continue its support to the Afghan forces.
"We are under no illusions about the challenges associated with this mission," he said, adding that "2017 is going to be another tough year for the valiant Afghan security forces and the international troops who have stood and who will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with Afghanistan against terrorism."
He said that the purpose of his visit was to help make recommendations on America's strategy in Afghanistan moving forward, but he declined to share what those recommendations might be.
"As you know, President Trump has directed a review of our policy in Afghanistan as the new administration takes hold in Washington. This dictates an ongoing dialogue with Afghanistan's leadership, and that's why I came here. I talked again with President (Ashraf) Ghani, with his ministers, and heard directly and at length from the NATO commander General Nicholson. In order to provide my best assessment and advice as we go forward: advice to the president, to the NATO Secretary General, and all the troop-contributing nations with whom I coordinate and collaborate," said Mattis.
On the rumors about Russian cooperation with the Taliban, Mattis said that if Russian aid to the Taliban is true, this would be against international laws and the U.S will fight such action.
''The Russians seem to be choosing to be strategic competitors in a number of areas. The level of granularity and the level of success they're achieving I think the jury is out on that. I'll let the General talk about any of the specific weapons, but the broader strategic framework that you're driving toward I would say that we will engage with Russia diplomatically, we'll do so where we can, but we're going to have to confront Russia where what they're doing is contrary to international law or denying the sovereignty of other countries, for example any weapons being funnelled here from a foreign country would be a violation of international law, coming through the government of Afghanistan, for the Afghan forces and so that would have to be dealt with as a violation of international law."
Meanwhile, General John Nicholson, the commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, said that news about Russian contacts with the Taliban emerged last year, but maintained that the U.S will support anyone who wants to help in advancing the reconciliation process.
''The only thing that I would add to that is that we continue to get reports of this assistance, and of course we had the overt legitimacy lent to the Taliban by the Russians, that really occurred sort of late last year beginning through this process they've been undertaking, and of course as the Secretary stated, we support anyone who wants to help us advance the reconciliation process, but arming, belligerence, or legitimizing belligerents who perpetuate attacks that we saw two days ago in Mazar-e Sharif is not the best way forward to a peaceful reconciliation. ''
This new development takes place just a few days after a group of Taliban suicide bombers infiltrated 209 Shaheen Army Corps in northern Afghanistan killing scores of unarmed soldiers during Friday prayers at a mosque on the base.
LINK: https://www.ansarpress.com/english/6280
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