The United States has agreed to lead a training mission in Afghanistan after 2014 that will include troops from Germany and Italy and will operate under a new NATO mandate, officials announced Wednesday.
U.S. troops would be based in hubs in the east and south, Taliban strongholds where the Afghan army is likely to face a deadly insurgency for years to come. Germany has pledged to keep troops in the north and Italy in the west, an arrangement that would mark a continuation of the current force structure, albeit with far fewer troops.
Officials did not specify how many troops the mission, called Resolute Support, would include. They declined to say whether it would include a counterterrorism mission, one of the capabilities the Obama administration has expressed interest in keeping after the mandate of NATO’s current troop contingent, the International Security Assistance Force, expires.
“The new mission will not be ISAF by another name,” NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said. “It will be significantly smaller.”
Rasmussen said Turkey is considering keeping troops in Kabul but has not made a definitive pledge. There was no mention of a role for British troops, which have been the second-largest troop contributor of the war.
The White House has been reluctant to specify how many troops it would be willing to keep in the country because it has yet to sign a security cooperation agreement with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. That has made U.S. allies reluctant to make their own commitments to keep on pouring money and troops into a deeply unpopular conflict.
After meeting with his counterparts from allied nations at NATO, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel told reporters that the United States has an “unwavering commitment to the future of Afghanistan.”
“We’re transitioning, not leaving,” Hagel said.
The NATO chief said international trainers would advise only at the highest levels, no longer at the brigade and battalion level. That suggested Afghanistan’s fledgling army will do without the critical capabilities the international community has provided, including the ability to carry out aerial medical evacuations.
U.S. military officials say the Afghan army is unmistakably in the lead, taking heavy casualties. In a recent two-week period, more than 200 Afghan forces were killed in fighting, the top commander of NATO troops in Afghanistan, Gen. Joseph Dunford, said this week. Despite the bloodshed, NATO officials say it is time to shift the burden.
“Ultimately, it is for the Afghans to determine their own future,” Rasmussen said. “That is what transition is all about.”
Rasmussen and Hagel said international support for Afghanistan after 2014 is contingent on responsible behavior by the government in Kabul, a clear message to Karzai, who has been a prickly and often unpredictable ally.
“Commitment is a two-way street,” Rasmussen said. “We also expect the Afghan government to live up to its obligations, including full respect for basic democratic principles and human rights.”
Hagel said a “free and fair election” in Afghanistan would be an “essential part of any future commitment.”
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