BRUSSELS – Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and his NATO counterparts are considering leaving 8,000 to 12,000 troops in Afghanistan after 2014, but a dispute arose Friday between the U.S. and German defense officials over whether that contingent would be an international force or an American one.

The conflicting accounts came as NATO defense ministers gathered to discuss the endgame of the 11-year-old war in Afghanistan.

President Obama has said that the last combat troops will leave Afghanistan on Dec. 31, 2014, leaving the bulk of the country’s security in the hands of the Afghans.

German Defense Minister Thomas de Maiziere told reporters Panetta had informed him at the Brussels meeting that the United States would leave between 8,000 and 10,000 troops in the war-torn country at the end of 2014.

But Panetta, speaking to reporters later, called de Maiziere’s comments inaccurate.

Panetta, who will leave Obama’s Cabinet when his successor is confirmed, told reporters that he and the NATO partners instead talked about ranges of options for the post-2014 troop force. And he said the figures reflected contributions that other nations would make, in addition to the United States.

His spokesman, George Little, told reporters that the range for an international force was 8,000 to 12,000.

“The reports that the U.S. told allies that we are considering 8,000 to 12,000 U.S. troops after 2014 are not correct,” Little said. “A range of 8,000 to 12,000 troops was discussed as the possible size of the overall NATO mission, not the U.S. contribution.”

Little said Obama had not yet decided on the size of the post-2014 force in Afghanistan.