BRUSSELS, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- NATO needs to chart a course for the future based on lessons learned from operations in Afghanistan, the alliance's secretary-general said Tuesday.
Defense ministers from the alliance began a two-day conference in Brussels Tuesday. NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said progress in Afghanistan would be at the top of the agenda for the meetings.
"The summit will review our substantial efforts in Afghanistan and define our support after 2014," he said in a statement. "And it will chart the course for the Alliance after the conclusion of our longest and most demanding operation."
The U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution Thursday by a unanimous vote to extend the mandate for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force to Dec. 14, 2014. ISAF has been engaged in Afghanistan since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001.
"At the end of next year, our ISAF mission will be completed," Rasmussen said. "NATO will continue to build on the lessons we have learned. NATO is the only organization in the world that can bring together allies and partners in complex high-end operations."
The Security Council resolution said it was cognizant of the "continued threats posed by the Taliban" but added an increasing number of members of the conservative Islamic group have reconciled with the government and rejected al-Qaida in favor of peaceful conflict resolution.
