US military leaders have proposed retaining 10, 000 troops or none in Afghanistan after Nato's combat mission ends in December 2014.
The commander of the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, General Joseph Dunford, presented the option to the White House, saying that if that number was not possible, then US should pull out all troops from Afghanistan as a smaller force would be unable to provide security for intelligence officers and diplomats, News24 reports.
The option being debated by the White House also calls for a short stay for the proposed post-2014 force, which would be scaled back and withdrawn within two years, an official said.
President Hamid Karzai has been repeatedly refusing to sign the bilateral security agreement, which lays out a legal framework for a US military presence in the country till 2024.
