Mediaboss Marketing

LONDON The United States and Britain vowed Thursday that they will not abandon Afghanistan even after international combat troops are withdrawn at the end of the month, closing a chapter of a military engagement that began in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Both U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry and British Prime Minister David Cameron, appearing at a conference of nations whose donations help keep Afghanistan financially afloat, said it was in their national interests to continue supporting the struggling country as it enters what they called a transformation decade.

We are committed to ensuring that Afghanistan can never again be used as a safe haven from which terrorists can threaten the international community, Kerry said. We know that the most effective way to advance this objective is to support Afghanistans political unity and its security.

Kerry praised the new unity government of President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah, two former rivals who attended the conference determined to keep the aid flowing to their otherwise broke country.

We have a government in Kabul that merits our confidence, Kerry said. They can be confident of the support of the international community.

The conference was billed as a time for Afghanistan and its benefactors to take stock of each other during a critical juncture in the history of the nation, wedged between its first democratic transfer of power and the impending pullout of international combat troops. Afghanistan also has been facing a surge in Taliban attacks lately, and many are concerned about what will happen when the withdrawal concludes by Dec. 31.

Donor nations had earlier promised to give $16 billion to Afghanistan between 2012 and 2015 the United States pledging almost half of it and more aid was not on the table, at least for now.

We do need support, and they reiterated their commitments, Abdullah said as he walked into a meeting with Kerry.

Kerry said the conference was a chance for everyone to get a sense of the vision of the government, which could then encourage people to come to the next donor conference.

Pointedly, the first number Ghani cited Thursday in remarks at the end of the conference did not concern money. Rather, the Afghan leader paid tribute to the 3,400 men and women from NATO countries such as the United States and Britain who have died in Afghanistan in the past 13 years.

Read more:
U.S., Britain pledge not to forsake Afghanistan after December pullout