US has plan to hand over Afghan combat mission: report

WASHINGTON: The US government has developed a plan to transfer combat missions in some areas of Afghanistan to Afghan security forces over the next 18 to 24 months, The New York Times reported late on Sunday.
Citing unnamed officials, the newspaper said the plan envisaged ending US combat missions in Afghanistan by 2014. The report came after Afghan President Hamid Karzai warned that the US military had to scale back operations and reduce "intrusiveness" into Afghan life or risk fueling the Taliban insurgency.