NATO not to leave Afghanistan after 2014 transition: official 26 Jan 2011 NATO and the countries participating in the operation in Afghanistan will not leave the country after 2014, when Afghan troops will have taken over the security responsibility, a senior NATO official said Tuesday. NATO's Senior Civilian Representative in Afghanistan Mark Sedwill made the remarks at a joint press conference with Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb after the two held a meeting here. The transition in 2014 will not be the end of NATO's operation in Afghanistan, but the beginning of a new phase of the campaign [to fund US mercenaries to protect gas and opium routes], Sedwill said.