What troops pullout means to Kabul

Jan Muhammad Khan, the top aide of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, was killed on Sunday night. He was the second important leader to be assassinated in Afghanistan since the United States began withdrawing its troops earlier this month. On July 12, Karzai's younger half brother Ahmad Wali Karzai was shot dead by one of his guards.

The deaths of the Afghan president's two close aides have prompted the Western media to wonder Hamid Karzai would survive in power until 2014, when NATO troops are supposed to complete their pullout from the country.

Announcing American troops withdrawal plan on June 22, US President Barack Obama said: "America, it is time to focus on nation building here at home." Obama's speech reflected the thinking of other NATO countries' leaders whose troops are still deployed in Afghanistan. As soon as Washington unveiled its troops' withdrawal plan, one after another its NATO allies said their militaries, too, would pull out of Afghanistan.