NATO asks Qatar to provide base to train Afghan troops

NATO security officials are in talks with Qatar about providing a military base to help train Afghan army units after foreign forces withdraw from Afghanistan later this year, Reuters reports.

“We are holding talks to earmark a base in Qatar to create an exclusive training ground for senior members of the Afghan forces,” said a senior Western security official in Kabul, according to Reuters.

“We have made an offer, but it is for authorities in Qatar to decide if they are comfortable with NATO using their territory as a training ground,” another source based in Washington DC told the news agency.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed in a statement days ago that the withdrawal of the alliance, which began in April, from the war-torn nation “is going well, and that the withdrawal of our forces is progressing in an orderly and coordinated manner”.

Qatar has in recent years hosted talks between the Taliban, the US, NATO and other international groups’ representatives. The Gulf state has also been home to a Taliban office since 2013, and hosted negotiations with the US that led to the withdrawal to take place.