Afghanistan and US sign troops pact

What you need to know:

  • President Barack Obama welcomed the deal, saying it was an historic day in US-Afghan relations.
  • Nato’s follow-up mission, which will take over on January 1, will be made up of 9,800 US troops and about 3,000 soldiers from Germany, Italy and other member nations.
  • The new mission — named Resolute Support — will focus on supporting Afghan forces as they take on the Taliban, in parallel with US counter-terrorism operations.

KABUL, Tuesday
Afghanistan and the United States Tuesday signed a deal to allow about 10,000 US troops to stay in the country next year, as new President Ashraf Ghani took a major step towards mending frayed ties with Washington.

Mr Hamid Karzai, who stood down as president on Monday, had refused to sign the deal — a disagreement that symbolised the breakdown of Afghan-US relations after the optimism of 2001 when the Taliban were ousted from power.

Afghan national security adviser Hanif Atmar and US Ambassador James Cunningham inked the bilateral security agreement (BSA) at a ceremony in the presidential palace in Kabul as Ghani looked on.

“We have signed an agreement which is for the good of our people, the stability of the region and the world,” Mr Ghani said, adding it would allow continued US funding for the 350,000-strong Afghan security forces.

“Threats exist to our joint interests, and this gives us a common goal,” Mr Ghani said after fulfilling his campaign vow to have the deal signed on his first full day in office.

President Barack Obama welcomed the deal, saying it was an historic day in US-Afghan relations.

He said it provided “the necessary legal framework to carry out two critical missions after 2014: targeting the remnants of Al-Qaeda and training, advising, and assisting Afghan National Security Forces.”

US-led Nato combat operations will finish at the end of this year, and the Taliban have launched a series of recent offensives that have severely tested Afghan soldiers and police.

NATO FOLLOW-UP

Nato’s follow-up mission, which will take over on January 1, will be made up of 9,800 US troops and about 3,000 soldiers from Germany, Italy and other member nations.

The new mission — named Resolute Support — will focus on supporting Afghan forces as they take on the Taliban, in parallel with US counter-terrorism operations.

Many long-term international aid pledges were also dependent on the BSA being signed to strengthen security.
Negotiations over the pact saw Karzai, who came to power in 2001, at his most unpredictable as he added new demands and shifted positions, infuriating the US.

He eventually refused to sign the agreement last year despite a “loya jirga” grand assembly which he had convened voting for him to do so. There was also widespread public support for US troops to stay.