Afghanistan's president Ashraf Ghani said on Tuesday that no peace deal between the Taliban and the United States could be finalised without involving his government as "the decision-maker". "At the end of any peace deal, the decision-maker will be the government of Afghanistan," Ghani told TOLO News, the country's largest private television station. "No power in the country can dissolve the government," he said, adding that he was ready to "stand and defend our country". Western diplomats and security advisers believe a swift foreign pullout would put the stretched Afghan forces under severe strain. The United States has about 14,000 troops in Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led Resolute Support mission and a separate counter-terrorism effort largely directed at groups such as al-Qaeda and Islamic State.Some 8,000 troops from 38 other countries also participate in Resolute Support.

Source: dna February 05, 2019 18:22 UTC