Germany to continue assisting Afghanistan

Germany would continue to support Afghanistan on a long-term basis, visiting German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said here on Sunday.

"Germany will continue to assist Afghanistan not only economically but would play its role to improve the capacity-building of Afghan national security forces," Steinmeier said, Xinhua reported.

In a live broadcast by Afghan national television RTA, the German foreign minister said the objective of Germany's cooperation with Afghanistan is to help the war-ravaged country stand on its feet.

In the gathering, attended among others by Afghan government chief executive Abdullah Abdullah and some Kabul-based diplomats, President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani described Germany as a good friend of Afghanistan and expressed gratitude over its contribution to the post-Taliban country over the past 14 years.

Germany had more than 4,000 troops in Afghanistan within the framework of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) till the end of the combat mission of the alliance in December 2014.