KABUL – Afghanistan has approved the offer of United Arab Emirates and Qatar to deploy special troops in the war-torn country to join NATO’s Resolute Support Mission, according to reports in Afghan media.
The approval came during a meeting of National Security Council chaired by President Ashraf Ghani on Tuesday, the 1TVNews reported.
The presidency in a statement said that NSC considered UAE’s offer to send special troops to Resolute Support Mission for training, advising and assisting Afghan forces according to the security agreement between Afghanistan and NATO and approved it.
The statement did not mention anything about numbers of troops or when they would come to Afghanistan.
UAE and Qatar’s move to contribute to RS mission came during NATO’s defense ministerial meeting in Brussels in November last year.
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg had welcomed the move saying they have capabilities and knowledge, and that their presence is a strong symbol of global support for Afghanistan.
Last week, US commander Gen John Nicholson announced that the UAE and Qatar wanted to send troops to Afghanistan.
“I’d say this is not just an American mission. There are 39 nations here. In fact, we have two more that have recently offered to join: UAE and Qatar,” said Nicholson.
And so these nations not only contribute troops; they contribute financially and they bring the legitimacy of a 39-nation coalition to keep pressure on these terrorist groups, he added.
