Train Afghan Special Forces, NATO Wants To Build Military Base In Qatar

Ilustrasi militer NATO. (Wikimedia Commons/The U.S. Army)

JAKARTA - The military alliance of countries that are members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), is said to be approaching Qatar to open a military base in the country, after the alliance left Afghanistan.

This plan, as mentioned by three senior official sources who are aware of this plan, along with the withdrawal of international troops from Afghanistan.

Military bases are an important issue for the international troop alliance from 36 countries in Afghanistan, as there is still an 'obligation' for NATO's strategic commitment to train Afghan special forces.

"We are in talks to allocate a base in Qatar, regarding the construction of an exclusive training ground for senior members of the Afghan forces," said a senior NATO official in Kabul, Afghanistan, as reported by Reuters Tuesday, June 15.

NATO's strategic commitment to Afghanistan is to train and equip Afghan security forces to fight the Taliban, which was ousted from power in 2001 and has since waged an insurgency.

"We have made an offer, but the authorities in Qatar (who will) decide whether they are comfortable with NATO using their territory as a training ground," said another security source based in Washington DC, United States.

Meanwhile, another source, a diplomat based in Kabul, added that the training process for Afghan special forces would take four to six weeks, for one training period.

There has been no official response regarding the news of the selection of the location for this international alliance troop base from the NATO, the Qatari government and the Afghan government.

Earlier this month, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the international alliance was looking at ways to provide training for Afghan security forces abroad, particularly special operations forces. The United States, Britain and Turkey are said to be part of the NATO countries that are ready to provide training for Afghan forces in Qatar.

Separately, the Taliban, which has recently been involved in high-intensity armed clashes after foreign troops left Afghanistan, said they were not aware of the training plans.

“In the case of Afghan soldiers receiving military training abroad. If peace is established, then perhaps trained ones should be hired to serve Afghanistan. But if they come and fight against us and their nation, then of course they will not become Afghan soldiers trusted by us," said Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.