By IRNA
Berlin : Afghan government troops are supposed to be capable of controlling the war-stricken southern part of the country by 2011, the weekly Der Spiegel news magazine cited a secret dossier approved by NATO at this week’s summit in the Romanian capital Bucharest.
According to the confidential NATO document, the envisaged progress in Afghanistan over the next three to five years has been listed and includes also a specified time frame for concrete objectives.
As part of the western military alliance’s plan, Afghan military forces should be ready to assume security control over Kabul and its surroundings this year.
The NATO dossier does not mention a withdrawal date for its 43,000 troops stationed in Afghanistan as part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), according to Der Spiegel.
The German government here Friday denied news reports about its involvement in a NATO plan for charting out an exit strategy in war-stricken Afghanistan.
Addressing the media in Berlin, deputy government spokesman Thomas Steg said he was left “speechless and surprised” by the report.
He urged journalists “not to believe” the report which alleged that Germany was heading NATO efforts for a gradual troop withdrawal from Afghanistan amid growing public opposition to the continued deployment of German troops in the war-ravaged country.
The German master plan, to be drafted by the chancellery and the defense ministry, is to focus on outlining perspectives for an end to the German military mission in Afghanistan.