NATO must tell Russia of Afghan plans in case of fiasco’

MOSCOW: NATO should keep Russia informed on operations in Afghanistan as they could heighten unrest near Russian borders, the Russian envoy to the alliance said on Friday on Echo of Moscow radio station.

“We want to know about military strategy, about military planning and political planning in case NATO runs into a total fiasco,” Dmitry Rogozin, Russia’s ambassador to NATO in Brussels, said. “If they leave there like they left Vietnam, they will leave behind broken china, a shaken hornet’s nest, with only Russia and our Central Asian partners nearby,” the envoy added. He noted that Russia was supporting NATO operations in Afghanistan by allowing the alliance to use Russian territory to transit supplies to NATO forces, and was also providing direct bilateral aid to the Afghan government. “As we help, we also need to know what is going on there,” Rogozin said.

Coordination: He said the situation for NATO in Afghanistan was becoming increasingly “dramatic” and pointed to a NATO airstrike on Friday that Afghan authorities say killed around 90 people as proof of alliance disorganisation in the country. “In truth, there is not serious coordination among various NATO contingents inside Afghanistan so far despite all the efforts that have been made over the past few years,” he said.