Pictured is a video conference of foreign ministers and defense chiefs of NATO allies who decided to withdraw their troops from Afghanistan on April 14 (from NATO’s official website)
On April 29, local time, AFP quoted NATO officials as saying that NATO has begun to withdraw from Afghanistan “firmly support the mission” of military forces, withdrawal in an orderly, coordinated and prudent manner.
Earlier, on April 14th NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced that the U.S. would begin withdrawing troops from Afghanistan by May 1 this year, a process that would last for months. NATO said in a statement issued on the 14th, during the withdrawal, NATO allied forces in any attack from the Taliban will be strong response. In particular, the statement called on the Afghan government and the Taliban to keep their commitments and to adhere to the peace process initiated by the U.S.-Arab agreement and the U.S.-Arab joint statement.
Following the end of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force mission in Afghanistan in 2014, NATO established a “Firm Support Mission” as a follow-up force aimed at providing training, guidance and assistance to the Afghan security forces. As of February, 9,592 people from 36 NATO members and partner countries had taken part in the “Strong Support Mission”, of which 2,500 were U.S. troops. Since the U.S. military entered Afghanistan on October 7, 2001, more than 30,000 civilians have been killed, killed or killed by U.S. forces in the fighting, more than 60,000 injured and about 11 million refugees.
