Afghan government to sign US security deal

The controversial Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA), to be signed on Tuesday, will allow a reduced contingent of US troops to remain in Afghanistan.
 
A senior minister and aide to newly-elected Afghan President Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai will sign the deal, allowing more than 12,000 US-led soldiers to stay in the country.
 
“The BSA will be signed tomorrow, not by the president but by a senior minister,” a senior aide to Ghani, Daoud Sultanzoy, said. “The signing sends the message that President Ghani fulfils his commitments. He promised it would be signed the day after inauguration, and it will be.”
 
This comes as former Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who had been in power since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, had refused to sign the BSA.
 
Under the agreement, soldiers from Germany, Italy, and other NATO member states will join the 9,800 remaining US soldiers, raising the total number to about 12,500.
 
The agreement grants immunity to US-led troops operating in the country. It also allows the US-led forces to carry out deadly night-time raids on Afghan homes, which has triggered widespread protests in Afghanistan.
 
The United States and its allies attacked Afghanistan in 2001 as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror. The offensive removed the Taliban from power, but insecurity remains in the country, despite the presence of tens of thousands of foreign troops.