Nato leaders have endorsed on Saturday a plan to start handing Afghan forces command of the war next year with the aim of ceding full control by 2014.
"We have launched the process by which the Afghan people will once again become masters in their own house," Nato secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen told a news conference following a summit of Allied leaders in Lisbon.
Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, signed the plan along with Mr Rasmussen and Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary general.
Earlier alliance leader suggested that Nato’s plan to wind down its combat mission was not set in stone, casting doubt on David Cameron’s fixed deadline for a British withdrawal. Despite Western leaders’ eagerness to leave Afghanistan, the Nato timetable remains conditional, dependent on the ability of the Kabul government to secure the country against the Taliban.
The Obama administration made clear that 2014 was only “an aspirational goal” and Nato’s secretary-general warned the West must remain committed in Afghanistan “as long as it takes”.
A senior Nato official also warned of “inevitable setbacks” in the work to complete transition by the end of 2014.
Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon spokesman, said: “It does not necessarily mean that everywhere in the country [Afghan forces] will necessarily be in the lead and it does not mean that all US or coalition forces would necessarily be gone by that date.”
He added: “There may very well be the need for forces to remain in-country, albeit, hopefully, at smaller numbers, to assist the Afghans as they assume lead responsibility for the security of their country.”
The US military underlined its determination to continue to add resources to the Afghan battle by deploying heavily armoured tanks in Afghanistan for the first time in the nine-year war. The Marine Corps plans to use a company of Abrams tanks in areas of northern Helmand province where British forces were held to a stalemate by the Taliban by early spring.
While Nato’s schedule for transition is conditional, British officials in Lisbon made clear Mr Cameron’s timetable is unconditional. A British official in Lisbon said: “After 2015, we are not going to be in combat role. That’s absolutely clear.”
Britain has 10,000 troops in Afghanistan and has suffered 100 losses this year alone. The Prime Minister has made clear he wants most troops withdrawn before the next general election, due in May 2015.
Mr Cameron told MPs on Thursday that conditions in Afghanistan would not change his plan for 2015 to be the “endpoint” of British combat operations. He said: “I set the deadline of 2015, and yes, it is a deadline.” Mr Rasmussen told the BBC he thought Britain did not have a “concrete policy” on a withdrawal date.
He said: “I’m not aware of concrete policies for withdrawal and I believe all allies are committed to stay committed as long as it takes to do the job.
“We may also see, here and there, withdrawal of troops but the basic message is that we will stay committed as long as it takes.”
James Appathurai, the Nato spokesman, told reporters in Lisbon that the alliance is “fully confident” of meeting the 2014 target. But he added: “I must point out it is conditions-based.” Mark Sedwill, Nato’s senior civil in Kabul, underlined the difficulties the alliance will face in trying to follow its timetable.
“We are not indulging in a load of happy talk about the security situation in Afghanistan,” he said. “We believe we have regained the initiative but the progress is not irreversible. There are many challenges and inevitable set-backs ahead.”
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