NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told The Guardian that NATO troops could withdraw from Afghanistan sooner than expected, citing the rise of “insider attacks” as a blow to morale.
“From now until the end of 2014 you may see adaptation of our presence. Our troops can redeploy, take on other tasks, or even withdraw, or we can reduce the number of foreign troops,” he said. “From now until the end of 2014 we will see announcements of redeployments, withdrawals or drawdown … If the security situation allows, I would not exclude the possibility that in certain areas you could accelerate the process.”