Afghanistan top of agenda for Cameron in US

A guard of honour greeted the Prime Minister and his wife Samantha as they touched down at Andrews Air Force Base, near Washington, to the sound of a military band playing the national anthems of both countries.

The three-day visit was set to begin casually, with a visit by the two leaders to the University of Dayton, where they were due to watch the first match of the popular College March Madness tournament, while Mrs Cameron was joining first lady Michelle Obama on a visit to Washington’s American University. There they were set to talk to children who had been taking part in a mini-Olympics event and greet girls from Elizabeth Garrett school in north London who had been invited over by the first lady.

The talks today, however, are expected to focus on the question of when home-grown Afghan forces will be ready to take over lead responsibility for security in the whole of the country, as they already have done in some provinces.

The concern comes amid growing tensions between Afghanistan and the US after the killing of 16 Afghan civilians apparently gunned down by a rogue US soldier and the burning of Korans by US soldiers at a military base in the country.

Taliban militants yesterday opened fire on an Afghan government delegation visiting one of the two villages in southern Afghanistan where the American soldier is suspected of killing residents.

An Afghan soldier who was providing security for the delegation, was killed, while another soldier and a military prosecutor were injured.

The attack in Balandi village came as the Taliban vowed to kill and behead those responsible for the deaths on Sunday.

The US is holding in custody an Army staff sergeant, who is suspected of carrying out the killings, close to his base in Panjwai district, considered the birthplace of the Taliban.

Villagers have described him stalking from house to house in the middle of the night, opening fire on sleeping families and then burning some of the bodies of the dead.

Hundreds of students in the eastern Afghanistan city of Jalalabad, 80 miles east of the capital Kabul, shouted angry slogans yesterday and burned an effigy of Mr Obama in the first significant protest in response to the tragedy.

The President has expressed his shock and extended his condolences to the families of the victims.

However he has also said the horrific episode would not speed up plans to pull out foreign forces, despite increasing opposition at home to the war in Afghanistan.

Mr Cameron and Mr Obama used a joint article in yesterday’s Washington Post to vow to maintain the trans-Atlantic special relationship which has endured since Churchill and Eisenhower were allies in the Second World War.

In the wake of the recent deaths of six British soldiers and the massacre of Afghan civilians, they also acknowledged that Nato-led operations in Afghanistan remain “a difficult mission”.

But they indicated they would not be knocked off course or pushed into a precipitate exit from Afghanistan, saying: “We honour the profound sacrifices of our forces and in their name we’ll carry on the mission.”

The talks will set the scene for the Nato summit in May, when a date for transition to lead Afghan control is expected to be announced. Nato agreed at an earlier summit in 2010 that transition should come before the end of 2013, but there has been speculation the date may be brought forward to the summer of next year.

International troops would remain in support roles – including combat support – until the end of 2014, but the move to an Afghan lead would pave the way for British and American troops to start coming home in large numbers.

At present, about 33,000 US personnel and 500 Britons are due to be withdrawn over the course of 2012 and no announcements of further drawdowns are expected this year.

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