NATO to remain in Afghanistan after 2014

NATO to remain in Afghanistan after 2014

2011-01-26 18:36:37 GMT+7 (ICT)

HELSINKI (BNO NEWS) -- NATO will not leave Afghanistan after 2014, when Afghan troops will have taken over the security responsibility, a senior NATO official said.

The transition in 2014 will not be the end of NATO's operation in Afghanistan, instead the tasks and role of the NATO troops in Afghanistan will change, NATO's Senior Civilian Representative in Afghanistan Mark Sedwill said at a joint press conference with Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb in Helsinki.

Sedwill stressed that after the transition in 2014, a long-term partnership between Afghanistan and the international community will still be needed to support the development of Afghan security forces.

It was announced last November that NATO would start handing over control to Afghan security forces from the beginning of 2011 to the end of 2014.

Earlier this month, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said that U.S. troops will stay in Afghanistan beyond the 2014 deadline if Afghans want them and need them.

According to Obama's administration, U.S. troops are scheduled to begin drawing down in July 2011 with the full withdrawal ending in 2014 when Afghan forces assume the security lead.

"We are not leaving if you don't want us to leave," Biden said after meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai on January 11. He added that to maintain the control gained over the Taliban requires "strong Afghan security forces" and an increased effort from Pakistan to eradicate terrorist presence along the border.

The United States, according to Biden, is not planning to "govern or to nation-build" since the Afghan people are capable of it, as President Karzai has pointed out.

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