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NATO needs to increase the capabilities of member states to conduct large-scale and urgent evacuation operations in the future, foreign ministers of the alliance said on Wednesday considering the evacuation operations undertaken in Afghanistan by the countries post-Taliban takeover.
"Meeting in Riga on Wednesday (1 December 2021), NATO Foreign Ministers discussed the lessons learned from the Alliance's engagement in Afghanistan over almost two decades," NATO said in a statement. Following the rapid collapse of the Afghan government and forces in August, a comprehensive political and military assessment was conducted by NATO, with the active involvement of its allies and other experts. The ministers gathered in Latvia's Riga to discuss the results of the alliance's operation and the lessons they learned from their engagement in Afghanistan. "NATO should consider how to strengthen its capabilities to conduct short-notice, large-scale evacuation operations in the future," the statement read. "The assessment makes a number of other recommendations, including on maintaining interoperability with operational partners; considering the political and cultural norms of host nations, as well as their ability to absorb capacity-building and training; and ensuring timely reporting and meaningful consultations," the statement added. It also suggested that NATO should consider how to strengthen its capabilities to conduct short-notice, large-scale evacuation operations in the future. The assessment's key conclusions and recommendations are intended to inform NATO's political and military leaders as they consider and direct future crisis management operations. (ANI)
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