US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta told NATO counterparts his country would keep between 8,000 and 12,000 troops in Afghanistan under the auspices of a NATO training and support mission after 2014, Germany's defence minister said Friday.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the post-2014 mission would be "significantly smaller in size" than the current ISAF operation, adding that a "regional approach" was planned.
The German defence minister, Thomas de Maiziere, said this meant German troops would stay based in the north of the country, but said it was too soon to specify numbers.