Crisis averted? Afghanistan, US sign security pact
The pact, along with a similar deal between NATO and Afghanistan, will allow Western troops to stay in Afghanistan past the end of this year. It also means that foreign aid can resume flowing into Afghanistan 鈥� a critical need for the country.
The pact, along with a similar deal between NATO and Afghanistan, will allow Western troops to stay in Afghanistan past the end of this year. It also means that foreign aid can resume flowing into Afghanistan 鈥� a critical need for the country.
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Afghanistan and the United States signed a long-delayed security pact Tuesday, ensuring that American troops can stay in the country after the end of the year, in the first major step of newly inaugurated President Ashraf Ghani.
The Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) was signed by US Ambassador James Cunningham and Afghanistan鈥檚 National Security Advisor Hanif Atmar, in a televised ceremony at the presidential palace, Reuters reports.
Under the agreement, up to聽9,800 US soldiers are allowed to stay in Afghanistan after the end of combat operations this year, to help train and advise Afghan military and police forces. A separate pact also signed with NATO Tuesday allows for a small force of roughly 3,000 international troops.
The signing of the security arrangements comes a day after Mr. Ghani was sworn in as Afghanistan鈥檚 second president and signals his desire to reset ties with the US after his predecessor, Hamid Karzai, angered Washington by refusing to ink the agreement.聽
Mr. Karzai 鈥渟tunned Afghans and international officials alike by聽refusing to sign the security deal聽with Washington even after it had been approved by the Loya Jirga gathering of local representatives in November,鈥� of 2013, the Wall Street Journal writes.
Both Ghani and his campaign opponent Abdullah Abdullah had promised to sign the BSA as a first priority in office. The bitterly disputed and drawn-out election, results of which were delayed due to Mr. Abdullah鈥檚 accusations of mass fraud, had raised fears that no new president would be in place to sign the deal.聽
The signing of the security pacts was also a precondition to the continued dispersement of foreign aid. Afghanistan government is hugely reliant on foreign aid 鈥� a World Bank study in May found that in the year to Sept. 30, 2011, foreign aid was the equivalent of Afghanistan鈥檚 entire GDP, the Economist notes.聽
The security agreements 鈥渁re directly linked to the continued delivery of billions of dollars in aid that the Afghan government and its armed forces need to survive," The Wall Street Journal writes.聽
Under President Obama鈥檚 timeline, US forces in Afghanistan will drop by half by the end of 2015 and withdraw nearly completely by the end of 2016, with a small contingent left in a 鈥渟ecurity office,鈥� the BBC and the Associated Press report.聽
The BSA will also allow the US military to maintain some bases in Afghanistan, and give soldiers immunity from local law, The Washington Post reports.聽
US forces are helping train Afghanistan鈥檚 350,000-person military and police force, 鈥渨hich shoulders most of the fighting already,鈥� the Journal explains:聽
The agreement comes amid increased Taliban activity. The Taliban "have taken advantage of the paralysis in Kabul to launch attacks in an attempt [to] regain strategic territory in provinces such as Helmand in the south and Kunduz in the north," Reuters reports.