US and European allies meeting at a conference in Kabul on Tuesday endorsed a target for Afghan forces to take the lead in securing the country by 2014.
The timeline was contained in a communiqué adopted by delegates from more than 60 countries, including Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, according to a copy of the document seen by Reuters.
The resolution from the one-day gathering also supports plans to boost the proportion of aid money channelled through the Afghan government from 20 per cent to 50 per cent within two years in return for improved financial management.

Western allies hope the timelines will shore up domestic support for the war at a time when many are questioning whether the ambitious state-building strategy adopted by the White House is viable.

A record spike in casualties among Nato troops and Afghan civilians this summer and doubts over the ability of President Hamid Karzai to deliver reforms have piled further pressure on leaders in western capitals to show they have a credible exit strategy.

President Hamid Karzai pledged his commitment to the 2014 timeframe in a speech to delegates gathered in the capital’s government and diplomatic area, where security forces manned check-points and blocked traffic.

“I remain determined that our Afghan national security forces will be responsible for all military and law enforcement operations throughout our country by 2014,” Mr Karzai told the conference.

The target for Afghanistan’s army and police to take primary responsibility for security in Afghanistan’s 34 provinces within four years will be extremely tough to meet.

Mr Karzai first proposed the deadline last year, but experts question whether the country’s security forces will attain the necessary size or quality within the timeframe.

The durability of troop commitments by western allies are also constrained by domestic political considerations. Dutch and Canadian troops are already planning to leave Afghanistan. The UK said at the weekend it wants to set a path for withdrawing from the country by 2014, a move described by David Cameron, UK prime minister, on Tuesday as “realistic”.

Barack Obama, the US president, has said that US troops who make up the bulk of an international force projected to reach some 150,000 foreign troops will start to withdraw in a year’s time. Mrs Clinton said the target underscored the urgency of transferring more responsibility to the Afghan government.

“The July 2011 date captures both our sense of urgency and the strength of our resolve. The transition process is too important to push off indefinitely,” she said.

In practise, Western officials say that US forces are likely to remain in Afghanistan for years to come and that the pace of withdrawal will be dictated to a large extent by conditions on the ground.

The officials say that handing over to Afghan forces is likely to be a gradual process, taking place district-by-district, with western troops remaining close at hand to provide support. The slow pace of major US operations in the small town of Marjah, in Helmand Province, and in neighbouring Kandahar Province, has underscored the challenges that even well-trained and well-equipped Nato forces face.

Although Nato troops are increasingly mounting joint patrols and operations with Afghan units, much of the country’s army lacks the logistical support and leadership needed to operate independently.

The conference communiqué also responded to calls from the Afghan government for a greater proportion of aid money to be channelled through Kabul rather than spent by a complicated assortment of western civilian and military agencies.

The government complains that huge quantities of aid devoted to the country since the fall of the Taliban in 2001 have been wasted on poorly-planned projects that have delivered greater profits to western contractors than they have benefits to Afghans. Entrenched corruption in the Afghan state has traditionally made donors reluctant to hand over money directly to ministries.

Although there were reports of rocket fire at Kabul airport, the conference went ahead without any major security breaches. Associated Press reported that rockets prevented a plane carrying Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations Secretary-General, and Carl Bildt, Sweden’s foreign minister, from landing. They attended the conference after being diverted to Bagram base outside the capital, the news agency said.