The Ministry of Defense of Afghanistan welcomed the renewed commitment by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and called it vital for the realization of the four year roadmap for the development of the Afghan army and air forces.

AVA- The Ministry of Defense spokesman Gen. Dawlat Waziri told reporters in Kabul “Ministry of Defense (MoD) appreciated NATO’s continued support to Afghanistan and training ANDSF. During the NATO’s Defense Ministers meeting on 29 June, 2017, 39 NATO member and allied countries reinstated their continued support to ANSDF to ensure security in the country.”

Gen. Waziri further added “NATO’s commitment to continue its support to Afghanistan and our security forces is very important to implementing MoD’s four years security roadmap.”

“Based on this roadmap, the ANDCOP and border police forces will be merged with MoD” Said MG Waziri. He continued that based on this plan, the size of the Afghan Commando Forces will be doubled and upgraded to a Corp level,” he added.

He also said that the Afghan Air forces will be equipped and reinforced. He stressed that we need NATO’s help to train and equip the ANDF in order to implement this roadmap, and NATO’s recent commitment to send some thousands of new troops to Afghanistan will help us in this regard.

Tariq Shah Bahrami, Acting Ministry of Defense also participated at the NATO’s Defense Ministers Meeting.