Nearly a half million Afghans driven from homes as Obama meets with Karzai over security pact

After meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Washington today, President Barack Obama said US forces would shift their mission this Spring, from leading combat operations, to training and advising Afghan forces. He outlined two goals for continuing the US presence in Afghanistan, after the scheduled withdrawal of US troops in 2014.

“First, training and assisting Afghan forces and second, targeted counter-terrorism missions against Al Qaeda and its affiliates.”

Standing beside Obama, President Karzai said the two leaders had agreed on several key issues, including transferring detainees and detention centers to Afghan control and including Taliban leadership in future peace talks. Karzai said immunity for US forces after the scheduled withdrawal in 2014 could be a possibility.

“I can go to the Afghan people and argue for immunity for US troops in Afghanistan in a way that Afghan sovereignty will not be compromised, in a way that Afghan law will not be compromised.”

But while much of the focus is on the future of US military, the people of Afghanistan continue to face a myriad of problems, from dependence on a war economy, to government corruption, to the effects of controversial US-led drone strikes and night raids. The number of people driven from their homes and displaced by the fighting also continues to grow and is now approaching a half million, according the UN Refugee Agency. For more, we’re joined by Adam Combs, head of the Asia Section at the Norwegian Refugee Council. The group conducted a recent study of Afghans displaced in the country. We’re reaching him in Oslo, Norway.

To access the report from the Norwegian Refugee Council on IDPs in Afghanistan: http://www.nrc.no/?did=9665992