Afghan President Ashraf Ghani emphasizes terrorist threats, backs new U.S. strategy - latimes

The annual U.N. General Assembly has generated sometimes powerful comments by world leaders on issues involving North Korea, Iran, Afghanistan and the flight of minority Muslims from Myanmar as more than 100 heads of state and government gather in New York.

Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani addressed the U.N. General Assembly Tuesday in a speech that praised U.S. plans to send thousands more troops to the country amid the longstanding fight against terrorism. 

Ghani said that 16 years after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the U.S., which resulted in a U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, violence by terrorist groups remained a substantial threat in the country.

"Driven by transnational terrorist networks, criminal organizations, cyber crime and state sponsorship of terror" the violence "promises to be a decade long threat to national security rather than a passing phenomenon," he said.

Ghani, who was elected president in 2014, has focused on bringing stability to his country and combating militant groups such as the Taliban. 

"With President Trump's recent announcement  of his strategy to counter terrorism and bring stability to South Asia, Afghanistan's enduring partnership with the U.S. has been renewed and re-directed," Ghani said. 

Congress authorized the war in Afghanistan after the 2001 attacks. - Read More

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani emphasizes terrorist threats, backs new U.S. strategy

Read President Trump's full remarks at the U.N. General Assembly