NATO OKs post-2014 plan for Afghanistan

KABUL at a two-day meeting in Brussels.

Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who chaired the talks, said the new mission would replace the current combat effort in 2015.

A statement from the alliance said the ministers agreed on a broad framework that would be forwarded to military planners, who would work on the details of the mission in coming months.

Rasmussen said he expected allies and potential partners for the mission to complete the planning for the operation “well before the end of 2013”.

The secretary general reiterated insider attacks “will not change our strategy”. The allies and their ISAF partners would “continue to hand over security responsibility to the Afghan security forces”, he added.

The North Atlantic Council approved the appointment of ISAF Commander Gen. John Allen as the new Supreme Allied Commander in Europe (SACEUR).

“This appointment follows Gen. Allen’s nomination by US President Obama subject to confirmation by the United States Senate, the general is expected to take up his new role in the spring of 2013,” Rasmussen said.

Born in 1953, the US Marine Corps four-star general assumed ISAF command in July 18 2011, succeeding Gen. David Petraeus. Allen graduated with military honours from the US Naval Academy in 1976, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in Operations Analysis.

Rasmussen said he looked forward to working with Gen. Joseph F. Dunford, assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, who was being nominated to take over ISAF command.

“This is a critical time in our mission. The transition of security responsibility to the Afghan forces is progressing according to the timeline we have agreed. We are on track to complete it by the end of 2014, when our combat mission will come to an end…”

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