US Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday voiced hope a long-delayed US-Afghan security deal governing the presence of American troops in the country beyond 2014 may be signed shortly.
The bilateral security deal (BSA) was supposed to have been sealed by late last year, but at the last minute outgoing Afghan President Hamid Karzai refused to sign, saying he believed it was up to his successor.
US President Barack Obama has said the 32,000 American forces in Afghanistan will be scaled back to 9,800 by early 2015, and a full withdrawal will be completed by the end of 2016, some 15 years after the 2001 US-led invasion.
