Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether agreement has been reached with the President of Afghanistan on the role and status of (a) foreign and (b) UK military personnel in Afghanistan; and if he will make a statement.

The recent signature of the US/Afghan Bilateral Security Agreement and NATO Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) by the Afghan Government opened a new chapter for cooperation between Afghanistan and the international community. The SOFA provides the legal basis for the NATO follow-on mission to train, advise and assist the Afghan security forces from 2015.

We would expect to contribute a few hundred military personnel.