Nato Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer defended Wednesday allied troops fighting a Taliban-led insurgency in south Afghanistan, following criticism from US Defence Secretary Robert Gates. Gates told the Los Angeles Times newspaper that international troops deployed in the south - mainly from Britain, Canada and the Netherlands - were not properly trained to fight an insurgency.
"I have the greatest respect for what the allies are doing in the west, the north, the east and the south," Scheffer, a Dutchman, told reporters at Nato headquarters in Brussels. "And perhaps more specifically for what is being done in the south. All the countries in the south - where the going gets tough - are doing excellent work," he said. Australia and Denmark also have forces there.
A Nato diplomat said: "We were surprised," by Gates' criticism, especially given that Scheffer and the defence secretary had spoken by telephone on Tuesday about a new US troop contribution for the south. "The tone was good," the diplomat said.
Comments
Comments are closed.