Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan

The defense chiefs of Turkey and the U.S. held a phone call on April 1, discussing regional security and bilateral defense cooperation.

Turkish National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin exchanged views and underlined the significance of strategic relations during the talk, according to Turkey's National Defense Ministry.

President Klaus Iohannis stated, on Tuesday, that in 2020 the Ministry of National Defence (MApN) will have to focus on consolidating the strategic profile of Romania in NATO and the EU, accelerating the process of developing the operational capacity of the Army, as well as initiating and running endowment programs.

Minister of National Defense Nicolae Ciuca, and Chief of Defense Staff, Lieutenant general Daniel Petrescu, on Tuesday held a video conference call with the command teams of the structures deployed to the theaters of operation and external missions in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, the Republic of Mali and Poland.

Chief of the Naval Forces General Staff (SMFN), Vice Admiral Alexandru Mirsu, on Saturday, decorated the 307th Marine Battalion with the Naval Forces Emblem of Honor in appreciation for the manner in which they performed their missions.

One Croatian soldier has died and two others have been injured after a suicide bomber slammed his motorcycle into a vehicle they were travelling in near a NATO military base on the outskirts of Kabul in Afghanistan, the Croatian Defence Ministry said on Wednesday.

Minister of National Defense Gabriel Les emphasized, during a meeting in Brussels this Wednesday with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, the need to strengthen NATO's posture at the Black Sea by establishing a strong allied land presence in Romania, tasked with deterring and defending the allied territory, a strengthened naval dimension, and by improving air policing activities.

Bucharest, July 9 /Agerpres/ - President Klaus Iohannis will attend the NATO summit taking place in Brussels July 11 - 12, the Presidential Administration announced, adding that the program will include a meeting of the North Atlantic Council, a working meeting of the Allied leaders, as well as a meeting in the format of the Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan.

National Defence Minister Mihai Fifor on Wednesday had a meeting with Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) of NATO Allied Command Operations, General Curtis Scaparrotti, to discuss topical matters on the NATO agenda, reads a National Defence Ministry (MApN) release.

NATO will increase troop numbers in Afghanistan to help train local forces facing a resurgent Taliban but will not return to a combat role, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on June 29.

The alliance ended its longest-ever military operation in 2014 when it handed over post-9/11 frontline duties to the Afghan military and took on an advice and training mission.

At least six people were killed and 19 were injured when a suicide car bomber targeted a NATO troop convoy in Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, on Tuesday, the BBC reported.

The Defence Ministry in Sofia said that no Bulgarian troops had been injured in the attack.

The blast took place on the main road to the airport, close to the US embassy and the diplomatic quarter.