Official end to Afghan war for US and Nato

The United States and Nato have formally ended their war in Afghanistan with a ceremony at their military headquarters in Kabul.

The ceremony came as the insurgency they fought for 13 years remains as ferocious and deadly as at any time since the 2001 invasion that unseated the Taliban regime following the September 11 attacks.

The symbolic ceremony marked the end of the US-led International Security Assistance Force, which will transition to a supporting role with 13,500 soldiers, most of them American, starting on January 1.

General John Campbell, commander of Isaf, rolled up and sheathed the green and white Isaf flag and unfurled the flag of the new international mission, called Resolute Support.

“Resolute Support will serve as the bedrock of an enduring partnership” between Nato and Afghanistan, Campbell told an audience of Afghan and international military officers and officials, as well as diplomats and journalists.

From January 1, the new mission will provide training and support for Afghanistan’s military, with the US accounting for almost 11,000 members of the residual force.

President Ashraf Ghani, who took office in September, signed bilateral security agreements with Washington and Nato allowing the enduring military presence.