It is expected that a decision on this matter will be taken in June. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced the possible expansion of the mission "Resolute Support" in NATO. He told about this in an interview with the newspaper Welt am Sonntag, published on Sunday, April 30. In addition, some members of the alliance advocate that the mission should be extended more than once a year, as now, and every few years. It is expected that the final decision on these issues will be taken in June. Mission "Strong Support" started in early 2015, replacing the 13-year-old combat mission of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan (ISAF). If 140,000 military NATO were involved in the ISAF, the number of personnel in the new mission is still limited to approximately 13,000 soldiers who are not involved in combat operations, but are training and advising the Afghan security forces.

After the departure of most of the foreign military from Afghanistan, the militants again began to conquer the territories. According to the American watchdog organization SIGAR, which was preparing a report on the situation in Afghanistan for the US Congress, in November 2016, official authorities in Kabul controlled slightly more than half the country's territory. Earlier, US President Donald Trump expanded the powers of the Pentagon in Syria and Iraq.

Original article: NATO considers expansion of its mission in Afghanistan.