‘ US must rethink Nato future in Afghanistan’ Obama’s apology doesn’t sway MSF
Nato troops may need to stay in Afghanistan for a longer period and any decision should be based on the situation on the ground, Germany’s defence minister said on Thursday in an implicit criticism of US withdrawal plans.
Despite the recapture of the strategic northern city of Kunduz from Taliban militants, the intense fighting has raised questions over whether Nato- trained Afghan forces were ready to go it alone, now that most foreign combat troops have left.
“We’ll need to look at how we go forward and whether we should stay longer,” Ms Ursula von der Leyen said as she arrived for a meeting of Nato defence ministers in Brussels. “The developments in Kunduz show that the way that we have walked together with the Afghans That we have to walk on.”
The deadly bombing of a hospital in Kunduz has also put renewed attention on Nato’s future in the country that has received more than $ 100 billion in international aid but whose long- term stability is still in question.
Germany has long seen its troop presence under Nato as a stabilisation mission and stresses the focus is on civil reconstruction, meant to reassure a German public that remains deeply uncomfortable with the idea of its troops in combat, more than six decades after the end of World War Two.
“I will appeal today that we don’t organise the withdrawal from Afghanistan according to a rigid A day after President Barack Obama apologised for a tragic US airstrike that killed at least 22 people at a hospital run by Doctors Without Borders in northern Afghanistan, the medical charity said Thursday it is continuing to press its demand for an independent investigation of the incident.
The October 3 airstrike took place as Afghan forces were fighting to retake the strategic northern city of Kunduz, which was overrun and briefly held last week by the Taliban. The insurgents, who have been massing around the city for months, launched a multipronged attack that took authorities by surprise. Mr
timetable, but that we analyse the situation there and coordinate the withdrawal accordingly step by step,” Ms von der Leyen said.
“This means that we put the responsibility into the Afghans’ hands in a way that they are actually capable to keep their country stable.”
Germany, which had 1,900 troops stationed in Kunduz at the height of its mission there, has reduced its presence but still has 870 soldiers in the region.
Defence ministers meeting in Brussels discussed a timetable for the mission Obama on Wednesday apologised to the organisation and said the US would examine military procedures to look for better ways to prevent such incidents.
But scarce details on the erroneous strike have only fueled growing condemnation by the MSF.
Along with a dozen hospital staffers, 10 patients were also killed.
The airstrike will likely complicate delicate US efforts in Afghanistan. Speaking to reporters on Thursday in Kabul, MSF’s general director Christopher Stokes reiterated its demand for a probe, saying it would be important and a precedent for non- government organisations working in conflict zones worldwide. significantly beyond 2016, a Nato source said.
Ms Von der Leyen has warned for months about a hasty withdrawal and was uncomfortable with US President Barack Obama’s timetable for bringing troops home by the end of next year, leaving 1,000 US soldiers in Kabul.
US Army Gen. John Campbell, who commands the Nato troops in Afghanistan, said he supported calls for drawing downforce numbers at a slower pace, citing multiple threats from Islamic State militants and other radical groups.