BEIJING – China will train Afghan troops on Chinese soil, Afghanistan’sambassador to Beijing said, describing the military cooperation as aneffort to fight al Qaeda and Islamic State militants bent on attackingChina from its western neighbor.

Afghanistan has also requested that China provide Afghan security forceswith combat helicopters, Ambassador Janan Mosazai told Reuters in aninterview.

Beijing last month dismissed reports that Chinese troops would be stationedin its war-torn neighbor, after it agreed to help Afghanistan set up a“mountain brigade” in the rugged Wakhan Corridor linking the two countries.