Pierre Benazet meets General John R. Allen, Commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. They discuss the current situation in Afghanistan, as well as how NATO plans to make the transition process successful and build a strong Afghan national army. They also discuss how to avoid infiltration of the Afghan army by Taliban members.
White House officials on Thursday downplayed US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta's surprise statement that US combat operations in Afghanistan could end next year, saying the withdrawal timetable was in line with a previous NATO agreement.
US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s shock announcement that the US would wind down combat operations in Afghanistan next year has dominated dialogue at a two-day NATO meeting of defense ministers in Brussels.
A NATO spokesman confirmed the existence of a leaked report that highlighted potential failures of the 11-year war in Afghanistan and said Pakistan had helped Taliban fighters, but he downplayed the text's strategic relevance.
An alleged secret NATO report states that the Pakistani security services are secretly helping Afghanistan's Taliban, the BBC reported Wednesday. Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said the leak should be "disregarded”.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé have agreed to work for the "continued strength" of the Afghan mission, after France weighed an early pullout following a deadly attack on its troops by an Afghan soldier.
French Defence Minister Gérard Longuet arrived in Kabul for high-level talks on Saturday as France suspended its mission in Afghanistan and weighed an early withdrawal after French troops were killed by an Afghan soldier.
NATO officials have tended to downplay "insider threat" - or cases of Afghan soldiers attacking their coalition partners. But that could change with French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s harsh response to Friday's killing of four French troops.
France will temporarily suspend all training and combat operations in Afghanistan following a fatal attack on its troops, President Nicolas Sarkozy announced after four French soldiers died Friday in an attack by an Afghan army soldier.
An Afghan army soldier fatally shot four French NATO soldiers and wounded at least 16 others in eastern Afghanistan before being captured on Friday, said a spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.
