ISIL underlining the importance of NATO presence in Afghanistan: Stoltenberg By KHAAMA PRESS – Fri Oct 28 2016

The NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday that the presence of the loyalists of the Islamic State Of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Afghanistan is underlining the importance of the NATO in the country.
Stoltenberg was responding regarding the alliance’s contribution in the fight against the terror group in Iraq and Syria led by a coalition of forces.
“NATO contribute to the fight against ISIL and terrorism in many different ways. All NATO allies participate in the coalition and it is of great importance for the coalition that NATO allies, two decades of joint operations and exercising and exercises, have been able to develop interoperability, the ability to work together in this kind of military operations. So in that sense the coalition takes great advantage of interoperability that has been developed through NATO over the decades. Secondly, we provide direct support by the training of Iraqi officers,” Stoltenberg said.
He also added that “Our presence in Afghanistan, NATO’s biggest military operation ever is, of course, part of our efforts to fight international terrorism and we also see an ISIL present in Afghanistan which is just underlining the importance of our presence there.”
The remarks by Stoltenberg came as the US officials expressed concerns regarding the attempts by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant also known as the Islamic State of Syria and Iraq (ISIS) terrorist group to expand foothold in Afghanistan.
The State Department spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday “It is no secret that we have been long concerned about ISIL’s eyes on Afghanistan and their desires to have a presence there.”
Earlier, top US commander in Afghanistan Gen. John Nicholson said the terrorist group is attempting to establish a caliphate inside Afghanistan.
“Right now we see them very focused on trying to establish their caliphate, the Khorasan caliphate, inside Afghanistan,” General Nicholson told NBC News.
He said the push is “principally a non-Afghan movement”, adding that the U.S. has seen foreign fighters, particularly Uzbeks from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, joining the Islamic State Khorasan, or IS-K.
According to Gen. Nicholson the US also sees many Pakistani Pashtun from the Pakistani Taliban who joined IS-K moving into Afghanistan to fight.http://www.khaama.com/isil-underlining-the-importance-of-nato-presence-in-afghanistan-stoltenberg-02159