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NATO DMs to discuss situation in Afghanistan, N. Korean threat

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg speaks to the press
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg speaks to the press
BRUSSELS, Nov 7 (KUNA) -- NATO defence ministers begin a 2-day meeting tomorrow Wednesday with discussions to be focused on Afghanistan, North Korea, and a review of NATO's command structure.
"We have many different issues to discuss, but let me now focus on three of them: NATO's Command Structure, Afghanistan, and North Korea," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told a news conference Tuesday ahead of the meeting.
"North Korea's ballistic missile and nuclear programmes will also be on our agenda. They are a threat to NATO Allies, to our partners, and to the international non-proliferation regime. As I saw during my visit to East Asia last week, these global threats require a global response," he said.
"We will review our Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan together with our partners. We will be joined by Afghanistan's Acting Defence Minister, who will brief on the security situation and on the progress his government is making on essential reforms," he said.
The NATO chief noted that the last few weeks have been tough in Afghanistan, "with a number of brutal and senseless attacks. Such as today's attack on Shamshad TV." He said that around 13,000 troops from 39 different countries currently serve in our Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan and this number will be increased to 16,000 shortly.
In the margins of the NATO ministerial, US Defence Secretary James Mattis will chair a meeting of the Global Coalition to Defeat the so-called Islamic State (IS) at NATO headquarters on Thursday.
Stoltenberg said that in his recent meeting with the special US Presidential envoy for the Global coalition to counter IS Brett McGurk they discussed how NATO could provide support to the coalition.
He said that NATO is a full member of the coalition and provides support to training of Iraqi forces.
"We welcome very much the progress made in the fight against IS and most of the territories controlled by IS are liberated and the caliphate does not exist in any way," said the NATO chief.
He expressed concern that IS continues to pose a global threat and said that since they have lost all their territory in Iraq and Syria they could organize terrorist attacks against NATO allies.
Stoltenberg also called for a "constructive dialogue" between the Kurdish Peshmerga and the Iraqi government saying that any upsurge in violence will weaken the fight against IS. (end) nk.