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KABUL (Pajhwok): NATOs Resolute Support (RS) mission in Afghanistan on Thursday said their goal in the year 2017 was to defeat Daesh or Islamic State (IS) militants in the conflict-torn country.

William Slavin, a spokesman for the US-led RS mission in Afghanistan, told a joint press conference with Afghan Defence Ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri in Kabul: We know 2017 will be full of challenges, but we will continue to train, advise and help the Afghans so they are able to stabilize their country.

He said the Afghan forces were 20 percent stronger than they had been in 2016, with the Afghan air force recently obtaining four more A-29 aircrafts.

Our goal in 2017 is to defeat the IS so the militant group in other parts of the world refrain from considering Afghanistan as a safe haven. We warn them they would be either killed or arrested if they come to Afghanistan, Slavin said.

He said 200 Daesh and Al Qaeda militants had been killed in 79 airstrikes in Nangarhar province since March 21.

Daesh lost 50 percent of its fighters and 2/3 part of the territory they previously controlled in Afghanistan, he said.

The spokesman said the RS had allocated $2.7 million for reconstruction of the Sardar Daud Khan Military hospital in Kabul.

At least 49 people were killed and over 50 others wounded in the March 8 terrorist attack on the 400-bed hospital.

To a question, Slavin said if Russia or any other country wanted to support Afghanistan in the fight against terrorism, they should support the country through legal ways, not by backing the Taliban.

He said any type of help extended to the Taliban was against the interest of Afghanistan.

mds/ma

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2017 goal is to defeat IS in Afghanistan: NATO - Pajhwok Afghan News (subscription) (blog)