Up to 15,000 foreign troops could stay in Afghanistan if security agreement signed: Karzai

Up to 15,000 foreign troops could stay in Afghanistan beyond 2014 if a security pact with the US is signed, President Hamid Karzai said today.

Up to 15,000 foreign troops could stay in Afghanistan beyond 2014 if a security pact with the US is signed, President Hamid Karzai said Thursday.



About 2,500 tribal chiefs, chieftains and dignitaries are gathered in Kabul for a four-day discussion of the bilateral security agreement with the US.

"If signed... 10,000 to 15,000 of their troops will stay. When I say 'their troops', I don't mean the Americans (alone)," Karzai told delegates.