An Afghan girl looks over a ravine toward smoke rising from a brick factory chimney in Surkh Rod district, Jalalabad east of Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

BRUSSELS (AP) — The Obama administration is pressing its European allies to follow through on their pledges to Afghanistan's security after most international troops withdraw in 2014.

Speaking at NATO headquarters, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told allies it is "crucial for every nation to follow through on their commitments, and for those who haven't yet committed any funding to do so."

Donors pledged $4.1 billion a year to support Afghan forces from 2015 to 2017. The money is a key plank of the U.S. strategy to leave behind a secure Afghanistan after battling insurgents for more than a decade.

Europe's debt crisis has raised fears that some of the pledges won't be fulfilled. And in an era of defense cutbacks, Washington doesn't want to get stuck with the check.

Associated Press
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