Afghanistan 'unable to pay for troops for 15 years'

Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai has warned that it will take 15 years before the country is able to pay for the cost of its own security forces. After talks with visiting US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, Mr Karzai said he hoped the US and the international community would continue funding them. Mr Gates said the US would not turn away from Afghanistan and abandon it. His unannounced arrival in Kabul came a week after US President Barack Obama said he was sending 30,000 more troops. Nato member states have agreed to deploy another 7,000 soldiers between them.