NATO should hand over all combat operations in Afghanistan to the Afghan military by next year, France’s president said Friday. The announcement comes a week after four French soldiers were killed in Afghanistan and breaks with previous U.S-backed plans to withdraw from the country in 2014. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said that President Barack Obama has been made aware of France’s plan to ask NATO for a speedier drawdown of the 10-year involvement of foreign troops in Afghanistan.
