US, Afghanistan finalize post-2014 strategic partnership pact

According to reports from the Afghan presidential palace, the draft was finalized and initialed on Sunday in Kabul.

All foreign combat troops are scheduled to leave and hand over security operations to the Afghan Army by the end of 2014. However, the US is expected to keep a number of its forces in the country to train the Afghan army.

Although no details of the draft have been released, it has been said that the Afghan and American presidents are to sign the deal after reviewing it.

Afghanistan has already achieved two preconditions for signing the agreement. The first was to gain full control over the US-run Bagram prison and the second was control over the controversial US-led night raids in the country.

Experts believe that the Obama Administration is seeking permanent bases in Afghanistan, and wants to use the country as a platform to influence neighboring countries.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said the possibility of long-term US bases depends on Afghans and concerns of the neighboring countries, and can only be addressed once peace has been achieved.

Anti-American sentiment has hit unprecedented levels since the burning of the Holy Quran and the massacre of Afghan civilians by US soldiers over the past months.

On February 20, US soldiers burned copies of the Quran and other Islamic texts at the US-run Bagram Airbase, southeast of the city of Charikar in the Afghan province of Parwan.

Also on March 11, a group of US soldiers went from house to house in Kandahar’s Panjwaii district and gunned down Afghan civilians inside their homes, killing at least 16 people, mostly women and children, and injuring several others.

Insecurity continues to rise across Afghanistan, despite the current presence of some 130,000 US-led forces in the country.