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![Ghani thanked the US troops who died stabilizing Afghanistan [Xinhua]](http://thebricspost.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/240146953_8-e1427320701465.jpg)
Ghani thanked the US troops who died stabilizing Afghanistan [Xinhua]
Ghani also thanked the US for its assistance in helping with Afghanistan development.
The US played a vital role in ensuring the country did not fall apart after a contentious national election in June 2014 in which Ghani and his closest rival Abdullah Abdullah both claimed victory.
At stake was the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) calling for 9,800 US soldiers to remain in the country.
Former President Hamid Karzai had refused to sign the BSA, but both of his successors had pledged to commit to a US presence in the country.
On Tuesday, the Obama Administration announced that it would pause the gradual withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, allowing the 9,800 troops to remain there till the end of 2015.
The “pause” comes amid concerns that the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) has started to gain a foothold in Afghanistan.
ISIL is “terrible threat”, Ghani told Congress.
He said that the extremist militant group “tested for vulnerabilities” in countries gripped by war or economic ruin.
US military planners fear that a total and quick withdrawal from Afghanistan – like Iraq in 2010 – could allow ISIL groups, or affiliates to move in and fill the security vacuum.
ISIL already controls large areas of Iraq, Syria, Nigeria, Yemen and Afghanistan through its presence or that of affiliates.
British forces withdrew from Afghanistan late last year.
The BRICS POST with inputs from Agencies
