Taliban vows to escalate attack on USA troops in Afghanistan

“While America’s combat mission in Afghanistan may be over, our commitment to Afghanistan and its people endures”. They have noted that conditions in the country have changed since his initial decision on a sharper troop withdrawal timeline more than two years ago.

The Taliban responded to the United States announcement saying they would keep fighting until American troops finally pull out. But, he added, “I believe this mission is vital to our national security interests in preventing terrorist attacks against our citizens and our nation”. “So for instance, with the Afghans’ air operations and working with their special forces”, she said. The president had hoped to whittle the U.S. forces down to just 1,000 by the time he left office.

Meanwhile, US allies in Afghanistan are urged to work out their own plans to maintain a military presence after 2016, the original time set for a complete withdrawal. Obama also ignored advice on four other instances relating to Afghanistan troop levels.

During a Friday afternoon campaign appearance in Nashua, Clinton said Obama did not reach his decision “easily” and noted the partnership the USA has established with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.

Mr Obama, a Democrat, has faced steady criticism from Republicans on security issues as he has pursued a policy of winding down the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan since he first took office in 2009.

In the end, however, the Taliban played a major role in deciding the issue.

The president’s decision was reinforced when Taliban fighters took control of the key northern city of Kunduz late last month, leading to a protracted battle with Afghan forces supported by US airstrikes.

There are now 9,800 United States troops stationed in Afghanistan.

Speaking to USA troops, the president said, “I do not send you into harm’s way lightly”.

“The narrative that we’re leaving Afghanistan is self-defeating”, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Wednesday during a speech at the Association of the U.S. Army. But the Taliban remains strong, as it demonstrated last month with its capture of the provincial capital of Kunduz.

Critics of the administration said Obama’s actions did not go far enough to confront al-Qaeda and other threats in Afghanistan.

“It is better for Americans to stay longer in Afghanistan, because Afghan security forces need advanced weapon and training”, said a police general in Parwan Province, who asked not to be named for security reasons.

The president’s mission in Afghanistan is twofold – fight terrorism and train Afghan forces to defend the country.

Also, he said, “instead of going down to a normal embassy presence in Kabul by the end of 2016, we will maintain 5,500 troops, a small number of bases, including at Bagram, Jalalabad in the east, and Kandahar in the south”.