KABUL - US Ambassador to Afghanistan Ryan Crocker said Sunday that his country and the international community will stand by Afghanistan beyond 2024.
Speaking in a press conference in Kabul, the outgoing ambassador said that Afghanistan faces many challenges ahead, but the major achievements that have been made cannot be ignored.
"Afghanistan is still facing security, economic, development and organizational structure challenges; but we should not ignore our past achievements," Crocker told reporters.

"You will not be alone, not in 2012, not in 2014, and not even in 2024 - the US and the international community will be with you," he said.
He said that the government is on the way to starting peace negotiations with insurgents and that Afghanistan was on the right path to fighting corruption.

"Fighting corruption is not easy - we suffered a lot from corruption in the US at the beginning. I am sure Afghanistan is on the right path to eradicate it," he said.

The existence of corruption turned into one of the major issues to come out of the Tokyo summit on Afghanistan last week, and has become the talking point in all national-level meetings, even as Afghan President Hamid Karzai recently promised to take the issue seriously and not allow anyone to make their wealth from his government via illegal benefits. (Tolo News)