Agence France-Presse, The United States is forced to keep helicopters in Afghanistan for the NATO-led security force for another six months because no other ally has stepped forward, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said June 15.
Gates said NATO allies came forth with some offers of additional contributions to the 40,000-strong International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, but not enough to meet the requirements of the force’s commander.
The pledges made at a two-day meeting of alliance defense ministers included an additional maneuver battalion and some teams of advisers embedded with the Afghan security forces, he said.
Several countries also announced that they were removing restrictions on the use of their forces, Gates said, which would allow commanders to deploy them more easily to hostile areas.
But he said ISAF commander Gen. Dan McNeil had asked for four maneuver battalions and medium- to heavy-lift helicopters capable of operating in Afghanistan’s high mountains.
“I announced that in the absence of any available apparent substitute, that I would extend the assignment of our helicopters in Kandahar to ISAF for an additional six months,” Gates told reporters. “But I expect the allies to come up with a solution at that time in terms of helicopters that have the capability to operate in Afghanistan.”
A U.S. defense official traveling with Gates said the secretary was referring to 20 CH-47 medium-lift helicopters now assigned to ISAF.
