WASHINGTON - The Obama administration on Thursday played down Defense Secretary Leon Panetta's comments that the United States could end its combat role in Afghanistan next year, remarks that surprised allies in Europe and Kabul, as well as US lawmakers.

Panetta, who is meeting with fellow NATO defense chiefs in Brussels, said on Wednesday that the goal was for US troops in Afghanistan to step back from a fighting role in Afghanistan by mid- to late 2013. Instead, they would be in an "advise-and-assist" and training capacity, he said.

US officials strenuously denied the defense secretary's remarks represented a shift in Washington's approach to the 10-year-old war, saying the timetable was in line with a previous NATO agreement to transfer all security tasks to Afghan forces by the end of 2014.