Deal allows US troops in Afghanistan after 2014

US Soldiers stop traffic leading to the governor's compound in Kandahar on April 28, 2012. Two bodyguards and two suicide attackers were killed in a firefight inside the governor's compound in Afghanistan's southern Kandahar province Saturday, an official said. AFP PHOTO/ JANGIR

KABUL — A new pact governing US ties with Kabul after NATO combat troops leave Afghanistan in 2014 foresees the possibility of American forces staying behind to train Afghan forces and pursue Al-Qaeda.

“The Agreement provides for the possibility of US forces in Afghanistan after 2014, for the purposes of training Afghan forces and targeting the remnants of al-Qaeda,” a White House fact sheet said.

The Strategic Partnership Agreement signed by President Barack Obama and President Hamid Karzai here does not commit the United States to any specific troop levels or funding, leaving such decisions up to the US Congress.

“It does, however, commit the United States to seek funding from Congress on an annual basis to support the training, equipping, advising and sustaining of Afghan National Security Forces, as well as for social and economic assistance,” the statement said.

The deal, reached after months of painstaking negotiations, also states that the United States does not seek permanent military bases in Afghanistan.

The White House said the deal was intended to protect and promote shared democratic values, advance long-term security, reinforce regional security and social and economic development and strengthen Afghan governance.