COAS talks Afghan reconciliation with US forces commander in Afghanistan

Published March 21, 2016
General John Nicholson, Commander Resolute Support Mission and United States Forces in Afghanistan, called on General Raheel Sharif at GHQ. —APP
General John Nicholson, Commander Resolute Support Mission and United States Forces in Afghanistan, called on General Raheel Sharif at GHQ. —APP

ISLAMABAD: The newly appointed commander of international forces in Afghanistan, General John Mick Nicholson, met Army Chief General Raheel Sharif on Monday, as both the military leaders discussed the proposed reconciliation process in Afghanistan.

The commander of Resolute Support Mission and United States Forces in Afghanistan, on his maiden visit, called on the army chief at General Headquarters in Rawalpindi.

"During the meeting, matters of mutual interest and regional security with particular emphasis on coordination along Pak-Afghan border and reconciliation process in Afghanistan were discussed," an Inter-Services Public Relations statement said.

A first round of peace talks with the Taliban was held in July but collapsed after the Taliban belatedly confirmed the death of their founder Mullah Omar.

Afghan reconciliation process: Sartaj kicks off four-nation meeting with four guiding points

Nicholson is a veteran of multiple deployments in Afghanistan. He commanded the Army's 75th Ranger Regiment as well as the 82nd Airborne Division, Pentagon had said on his appointment.

Brigadier General Wilson Shoffner, a spokesman for the international mission in Afghanistan, had earlier said that Afghan security forces had "mixed results" in their first year of carrying out the fight against the Taliban on their own.

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