Kerry Announces U.S.-Afghan Security Agreement
Secretary of State John F. Kerry said Wednesday that the United States and Afghanistan had reached agreement on a security partnership after international combat troops withdraw, and that the deal would be presented to a gathering of influential tribal leaders beginning Thursday.
The deal, whose terms Kerry did not disclose, will be subject to approval by the tribal assembly, known as a loya jirga, as well as the Afghan parliament. The tribal gathering is an advisory body only, but Afghan President Hamid Karzai has indicated he won’t sign the security agreement unless the assembly approves it.
“As we sit here tonight, we have agreed on the language that would be submitted to a loya jirga, but they have to pass it,” Kerry said at the State Department. “So I think it’s inappropriate for me to comment at all on any of the details. It’s up to the people of Afghanistan.”
There was no immediate confirmation of an agreement from Afghan officials, and Kerry’s remarks left unclear how the two sides had resolved the contentious issue of American troops entering Afghan residential areas in pursuit of insurgents or terrorists, a practice known as night raids. The U.S. wants its special operations forces to continue night raids after Western combat troops depart the country by the end of next year, but Karzai has insisted for months that only Afghan troops should carry out such missions.