Dari / Pashto

NATO in Afghanistan

NATO support to Afghan National Army (ANA)

(February 2008)

The provision of direct support to the ANA is one of NATO-ISAF’s key military tasks. NATO-ISAF has now fought alongside the ANA and is committed to providing continued direct support to it, through mentoring, training and equipment support.

  • Building an effective ANA is critical to building a self-sustaining Afghanistan.
  • The US is the G8 lead nation for the development of the Afghan National Army (ANA) and very significant progress has been made; further work is required to strengthen ANA mobility, combat support and combat service support.
  • NATO’s involvement with the ANA focuses on its employment rather than its manning, initial training and sustainment.  NATO assists the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to bring the ANA up to operating capability through the provision of Operational Mentor and Liaison Teams (OMLTs).  These teams support training and deploy on operations in an advisory role.
  • OMLTs play a particularly important coordinating and de-conflicting role between ANA and ISAF operations.
  • NATO has now deployed 36 OMLTs, and the Alliance is working to increase this number significantly.
  • The Asia Foundation survey of 2006 reported that 87% of those Afghans interviewed trusted the Afghan National Army.
  • The Afghan National Army is truly a “national” institution representing every major ethnic group.
  • The ANA is growing in strength and capability every day.  Three years ago, there was no ANA to speak of, but today the ANA exceeds 50,000, many of whom are conducting operations side by side with ISAF forces.  In many cases, the ANA is now engaged in or leading major operations.