US Signs Deal on Military Presence in Afghanistan
KABUL (Dispatches) – The United States and Afghanistan signed a deal Tuesday to formally justify the presence of a limited US military contingent in the Central Asian state after the formal withdrawal of international forces.
The deal was signed in Kabul’s presidential palace earlier in the day, the Afghan television channel said, Ria Novosti reported.
Washington acknowledged earlier that its relationship with Kabul under President Hamid Karzai was "punctuated by disagreements.”
The future of US military presence in Afghanistan brightened up following the election of Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, a more willing partner of the United States, as the nation’s new president.
Speaking on Ahmadzai’s inauguration Monday, US Secretary of State John Kerry congratulated the freshly appointed president, as well as the new chief executive officer, Abdullah Abdullah, saying he hoped for a deeper partnership with a "unified and democratic Afghanistan.”
The security agreement is expected to determine the number of US soldiers that will remain in Afghanistan after 2014. According to Kerry, foreign troops will help to conduct "counter-terror operations” and train Afghan soldiers.
About 41,000 NATO troops remain in Afghanistan to fight the Taliban insurgency alongside Afghan soldiers and police. NATO’s combat mission will end in December, with a follow-on force of about 12,000 troops likely to stay into 2015 on training and support duties.
US-Led Strikes Leave 6 Dead
At least six people have been killed after US-led foreign forces in Afghanistan carried out separate airstrikes in the eastern part of the war-ravaged country during the past 24 hours.
Local officials said an unmanned aerial vehicle launched an airborne attack in the mountainous eastern province of Khost on Monday, leaving four people dead.
Two other people lost their lives in a similar airstrike in the eastern province of Laghman earlier in the day.
The US-led forces have recently increased their air raids against civilian areas in Afghanistan.
On September 26, a drone attack in the eastern province of Nangarhar left at least six people, including two women, dead and a woman injured.
Four people were also killed in a US drone strike in Afghanistan’s northeastern province of Kunar on September 23.
The deal was signed in Kabul’s presidential palace earlier in the day, the Afghan television channel said, Ria Novosti reported.
Washington acknowledged earlier that its relationship with Kabul under President Hamid Karzai was "punctuated by disagreements.”
The future of US military presence in Afghanistan brightened up following the election of Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, a more willing partner of the United States, as the nation’s new president.
Speaking on Ahmadzai’s inauguration Monday, US Secretary of State John Kerry congratulated the freshly appointed president, as well as the new chief executive officer, Abdullah Abdullah, saying he hoped for a deeper partnership with a "unified and democratic Afghanistan.”
The security agreement is expected to determine the number of US soldiers that will remain in Afghanistan after 2014. According to Kerry, foreign troops will help to conduct "counter-terror operations” and train Afghan soldiers.
About 41,000 NATO troops remain in Afghanistan to fight the Taliban insurgency alongside Afghan soldiers and police. NATO’s combat mission will end in December, with a follow-on force of about 12,000 troops likely to stay into 2015 on training and support duties.
US-Led Strikes Leave 6 Dead
At least six people have been killed after US-led foreign forces in Afghanistan carried out separate airstrikes in the eastern part of the war-ravaged country during the past 24 hours.
Local officials said an unmanned aerial vehicle launched an airborne attack in the mountainous eastern province of Khost on Monday, leaving four people dead.
Two other people lost their lives in a similar airstrike in the eastern province of Laghman earlier in the day.
The US-led forces have recently increased their air raids against civilian areas in Afghanistan.
On September 26, a drone attack in the eastern province of Nangarhar left at least six people, including two women, dead and a woman injured.
Four people were also killed in a US drone strike in Afghanistan’s northeastern province of Kunar on September 23.