Stoltenberg said, “This may allow ISIS fighters to regroup.”
“The price of leaving too quickly or in an uncoordinated way may be very high,” Stoltenberg said in a statement.
He continued, “There is a risk that Afghanistan will once again become a platform for international terrorists to plan and organize attacks on our homelands.”
He added, “ISIS can rebuild the terrorist caliphate in Afghanistan after it lost it in Syria and Iraq.”
In his statement, the Secretary-General of NATO made it clear that there are fewer than 12,000 NATO troops in Afghanistan, including U.S. forces.
The U.S. Defense Department announced on Tuesday, its intention to withdraw 2,000 soldiers from Afghanistan and 500 from Iraq before the end of the current President Donald Trump’s term, according to Reuters.
This reduces the number of American soldiers in Afghanistan from 4,500 to 2,500, while their number in Iraq decreases from 3,000 to 2,500.
source:almasdarnews.com
