BBC Online :
The new Afghan government is to sign security deals with the US and Nato later that will allow foreign troops to remain in the country beyond 2014.
The agreements are expected to be signed by Afghanistan’s newly appointed national security adviser, Hanif Atmar.
The previous president, Hamid Karzai, refused to sign the bilateral security agreement (BSA) with the US, straining ties and raising security fears.
Most Nato forces are to withdraw this year, leaving 9,800 US troops behind.
The total number of troops in the US-led mission at the start of next year will be around 12,500, with the remainder coming from allies such as Germany and Italy.
The BSA allows for some foreign special forces to stay in the country to conduct “counter-terror operations” and others to support and train Afghan forces.
The bilateral security agreement between Afghanistan and the US, allows US troops to remain in Afghanistan after the end of 2014. But the force will be quite small, at 9,800 troops, and will be cut in half by the end of 2015, before a full pullout at the end of 2016.
Under a separate Nato agreement, a further force of about 3,000 troops will be contributed by several Nato nations, led by Germany, Turkey and Italy. Britain’s only contribution will be at the officers’ training academy, which is modelled on Sandhurst, at Qargha close to Kabul.
