World

Ashraf Ghani: Afghan president has 'worst job on Earth'

October 5, 2017 4:27 pm

President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan makes no bones about the challenges facing his country when we sit down for an exclusive BBC interview in his palace in Kabul.

“This is the worst job on Earth,” he tells me.

And it is true there are no shortage of tough issues facing Afghanistan. The most obvious is security. His country has been at war for almost 16 years now. Yet the Afghan president is surprisingly bullish about how long the country will continue to require the support of Nato.

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Nato troops, he says, will be able to pull out “within four years”.

Many military analysts will consider that optimistic given that it is only three years since the Nato combat mission ended and the Afghan military took responsibility for the battle against the Taliban and other insurgent groups.

About 14,000 Nato troops remain in the country to “train, advise and assist” Afghan forces. The aim is to strengthen them so they can take the battle to the Taliban.