NATO chief predicts tough year for terrorist-hit Afghanistan

PanARMENIAN.Net - The head of NATO on Wednesday, March 16 predicted a difficult fight ahead for Afghanistan as the government continues battling the Taliban and other militant factions trying to assert their presence in the war-ravaged country, the Associated Press reports.

Jens Stoltenberg, NATO's secretary general, said insurgents will press their fight against Kabul in what is likely to be another tough year for the Afghan government. He spoke to the Associated Press during a two-day visit to Kabul, his second since taking the top NATO role in late 2014.

The Taliban, al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group will keep up their attacks across Afghanistan throughout 2016, he said. "We have seen different terrorist organizations trying to establish themselves in Afghanistan. We have seen the presence of al-Qaida, IS, the Taliban and all the groups, and they are still in Afghanistan."

"There is going to be continued fighting and we have to expect that there are going to be new attacks on the government forces," he added.

NATO has around 3,000 troops in Afghanistan, in the so-called Resolute Support non-combat mission along with about 9,800 U.S. soldiers. The mission was pared down in 2014, with the departure of most international combat troops, leaving Afghan forces to take on the insurgency largely alone, AP says.

For now, the United States will halve troop numbers at the end of this year. Stoltenberg said NATO's numbers for 2017 are not yet clear.