Afghan President Hamid Karzai (background) and U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, photographed on Jan. 10, 2013 (Creative Commons).

The leaders discussed how many U.S. troops should remain in Afghanistan after 2014 when the U.S. and its allies are scheduled to end combat operations, USA Today reported. 

Afghan forces “are stepping up,” Obama said, and U.S. forces can now step back, NPR reported. Afghan forces will be put into combat lead this spring rather than the scheduled summer. 

“Starting this spring our troops will have a different mission - training, advising and assisting Afghan forces,” Obama said.

Karzai arrived at the White House on Friday. He also met this week with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. 

According to USA Today, some U.S. commanders have advised fewer than 10,000 troops should stay in Afghanistan after 2014 to continue battling terrorists and training Afghan forces.

There are currently an estimated 66,000 troops in Afghanistan.

"Afghanistan still has work to do but there's no doubt that the possibility of peace and prosperity in Afghanistan today is higher than before we went in,” Obama said. "[The U.S. has] achieved our central goal…or have come very close, to decapitate al-Qaida…to dismantle it."

Read more of Neon Tommy’s coverage on Afghanistan here.

Reach Executive Producer Agnus Dei Farrant here.