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“The transition has been planned against a timetable and this makes us rush all our preparations,” the official said.

“If the Americans withdraw from combat, it will certainly have an effect on our readiness and training, and on equipping the police force,” he said, adding that his government had not been informed of the change in plans.

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen insisted there was no change in NATO’s plans and it expected responsibility for security to be handed over to the Afghan security forces by mid-2013 and for them to have full control at the end of 2014.

“It is of course of crucial importance that this change of role takes place in a coordinated manner,” he said, emphasizing that the changes of role would have to take into account “the actual security situation on the ground.”

CLASSIFIED REPORT

Britain said on Thursday NATO’s strategy has not changed and alliance forces will continue to operate in a combat role.

“They [ISAF forces] will be operating in 2014 in a combat role. But it will be a supporting role,” a spokesman for Prime Minister David Cameron said, referring to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.

Britain has 9,500 troops in Afghanistan as part of the 130,000-strong NATO-led force. Cameron has announced that Britain will pull out 500 soldiers from Afghanistan this year but has not set out troop reduction plans beyond that. He plans to end Britain’s combat role by the end of 2014, leaving some troops behind to train and mentor Afghan forces.