Foreign troops can operate in 3 legal areas

KABUL under the security agreements.

The remarks from President Ghani’s spokesman Nazifullah Salarzai come in response to US President Barack Obama’s new guidelines allowing American forces to target Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan post-2014.

Obama quietly issued the orders giving US forces the authority to conduct operations on their own as they would conduct before signing of the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA).

Defining the three legal areas, Nazifullah said under the BSA, foreign forces staying in Afghanistan would train Afghan forces and take part in counterterrorism operations and would react in defence of Afghanistan in case of a foreign aggression. He said foreign forces’ new mission should be in accordance with the BSA.

President Obama’s orders negate his previous remarks in which he had announced closing the war in Afghanistan after 2014.

Western media reports said US troops would be having independence to conduct operations inside Afghanistan after President’s new orders.

According to the BSA, around 12,000 foreign forces will be staying in Afghanistan after 2014 and 3,200 of them will be training Afghan forces.

nh/ma

Visits: 0