NATO to keep around 12,000 troops in Afghanistan next year: U.S. official --- (Reuters) - A NATO-led training mission in Afghanistan next year is likely to total about 12,000 soldiers, including about 8,000 Americans, while some 1,800 Americans will conduct counter-terrorism missions, a senior U.S. military official said on Wednesday. -- The United States would also be keen to see participation in the counter-terrorism effort by nations with well-trained special forces, such as Britain or Australia, the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said. -- The 12,000 figure for the NATO training mission given by the official on the sidelines of a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels was at the high end of planning assumptions previously spoken of in NATO corridors. -- U.S. President Barack Obama said last week that the United States will cut its force in Afghanistan to 9,800 from the start of next year, split between soldiers who will form part of the NATO training mission and others who will be part of a U.S. mission to combat al Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan. -- The United States had not said how many soldiers would be in each mission, "but my assessment is that somewhere on the order of 8,000 will be part of the NATO mission ... and the overall number of 12,000 did include as a planning figure 8,000 U.S. and 4,000 NATO," the official said. -- "There are a number of nations that have some very high-end special operations forces that we would welcome as part of that effort," he said. - More, http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/04/us-afghanistan-nato-military-idUSKBN0EF1VM20140604