Carter says U.S. to keep funding Afghan security forces

PanARMENIAN.Net - The United States assured Afghanistan's leaders on Monday, March 23, it would keep funding Afghan security forces at a targeted peak level of 352,000 personnel at least into 2017 to provide stability as foreign troops withdraw from the country, Reuters reported.

The announcement by U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter came ahead of talks at the White House on Tuesday at which Afghan President Ashraf Ghani is expected to press his case for a slowing of the withdrawal of U.S. forces.

After a day of talks at the U.S. presidential retreat at Camp David, Carter, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Afghan leaders were at pains to avoid getting ahead of the White House talks, at which Obama is expected to respond to Ghani's plea.

However, in response to a question at a joint news conference, Kerry said, "It’s our knowledge that President Obama is actively considering that request."

Ghani replaced Hamid Karzai as Afghan president last year and enjoys a much smoother relationship with Washington.

Earlier on Monday, he delivered an address to U.S. soldiers and military families at the Pentagon and sought to reassure Americans of the value of their sacrifice in lives lost and money spent in the battle against al Qaeda and other extremists in more than 13 years of war in Afghanistan.

Noting that more than 2,215 Americans had been killed and 20,000 wounded, he said, "Each one of you has left a legacy, but I also understand that Afghanistan has marked you."

Carter said pinning down the troop level the United States planned to finance was a way of providing "some stability to the Afghan security forces and a perspective into the future."

Carter announced the resumption of regular high-level diplomatic and defense talks with Afghanistan after a three-year gap, while Kerry unveiled a plan to "promote Afghan self-reliance" by using up to $800 million of U.S. aid money to promote Afghan-led reform and development work.