Afghan security forces must be sustainable: NATO

NATO has said that Afghanistan's security forces must be "sustainable" in terms of financial demands and its size for security needs and its evaluating these factors.

"We must of course make sure that the size and scope of the Afghan security forces are sustainable in a long term perspective, financially as well as security wise. We are in the midst of evaluation of that," Xinhua reported NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen as telling reporters at NATO headquarters.

"It's premature to make any concrete assessment right now as regards the future number of Afghan security forces. That will very much depend on the security situation on the ground by the end of 2014," he said.

The military alliance has planned to train 352,000 Afghan soldiers and police by October 2012, which will take over security from NATO forces across the country by the end of 2014.