Allies to 'stay the course' in Afghanistan: Nato

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WASHINGTON: Osama bin Laden may be dead but NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Sunday that western powers will ‘stay the course’ in Afghanistan amid growing calls for the decade-old war to end.

"International terrorism still poses a threat toward our countries," Rasmussen told US television, while acknowledging that the Al-Qaeda leader's death in a dramatic US commando raid a week ago may have marked a crucial milestone.

But Rasmussen said he was "optimistic" US and NATO forces will abide by a timetable to transition security to Afghan responsibility this year, with an aim to complete that process in 2014.

About 150,000 foreign troops -- 100,000 of them US forces -- are deployed in Afghanistan in a protracted counter-insurgency campaign against the Taliban, which was ousted in a US invasion in 2001 for its support for Al-Qaeda.

Meanwhile, US lawmakers have stepped up their calls for a more rapid US withdrawal from Afghanistan after the death of bin Laden. (AFP)