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NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, right, talks to Chair of the NATO Military Committee Admiral Rob Bauer during a NATO Foreign Ministers video gathering pursuing developments successful Afghanistan astatine the NATO office successful Brussels, Friday, Aug. 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco, Pool)

BRUSSELS – NATO overseas ministers connected Friday committed to absorption connected ensuring the harmless evacuation from Afghanistan of their citizens and of Afghans deemed astatine hazard aft the country's takeover by the Taliban.

They besides insisted that the caller rulers successful Kabul would person to marque definite that the federation does not go a halfway for terrorism.

“Any aboriginal Afghan authorities indispensable adhere to Afghanistan’s planetary obligations … and guarantee that Afghanistan ne'er again serves arsenic a harmless haven for terrorists,” a connection from the confederation said.

Foreign ministers from the 30-nation confederation met successful a videoconference to measure the chaotic concern successful Afghanistan and coordinate efforts to extract their nationals and cardinal section unit from the country.

Some allies called connected the United States to unafraid Kabul airdrome for arsenic agelong arsenic it takes, adjacent if that stretches beyond the evacuation of each U.S. nationals. Many allied nations are sending planes to Kabul to get arsenic galore radical retired arsenic soon arsenic possible.

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Friday's associated connection said that “as agelong arsenic evacuation operations continue, we volition support our adjacent operational practice done Allied subject means” astatine the airport.

“Our contiguous task present is to conscionable our committedness to proceed the harmless evacuation of our citizens, spouse state nationals, and at-risk Afghans, successful peculiar those who person assisted our efforts,” the connection said.

NATO has been starring planetary information operations successful Afghanistan since 2003 but coiled up combat operations successful 2014 to absorption connected grooming the country's nationalist information forces. NATO helped physique up an service of immoderate 300,000, but that unit withered nether the Taliban violative successful conscionable days.

NATO office has blamed a nonaccomplishment of Afghan enactment for the swift illness of the country’s Western-backed equipped forces.

A twelvemonth ago, NATO’s “Resolute Support Mission” to bid Afghan information forces progressive astir 10,000 unit from 36 subordinate and spouse countries. Last Sunday, determination were nary troops nether NATO bid successful Afghanistan.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.