US May Reconsider Afghan Troop Reduction

There are almost 9800 U.S. troops in Afghanistan today.

A Taliban resurgence in Afghanistan has upset Washington’s exit strategy, which called for troop reductions from 9,800 to 5,500 by the end of this year. The previous rules allowed, for example, for USA troops in Afghanistan to protect themselves and to aid Afghan forces in peril. That amounts to an acknowledgement that the Afghans need more help than the Pentagon had anticipated a year ago, and it is a signal to allies not to abandon the USA -led coalition.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter has told North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies that the USA will take a new look at its plans to withdraw thousands of troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year. But strikes against the Taliban were largely halted at the end of 2014, when the US-led coalition’s combat role ended. “Their involvement will increase our capacity in operations on the ground”.

In January, he authorized US airstrikes against a growing presence of followers of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria in southeastern Afghanistan. His assessment of security in Afghanistan and the forces he needs is expected to be announced soon.

The new measures, approved by Obama late last month, will permit military leaders to send USA troops on battlefield missions with conventional Afghan forces, broadening an activity that now occurs only with elite local troops, and will expand the use of US air power for offensive missions against the Taliban. “Afghanistan is a place where we should wish to consolidate and lock down our provisional progress into something of a more lasting asset”.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said several nations also committed to a troop presence next year in Afghanistan. The official roster now includes about 320,000 members of the security forces, a US military commander said earlier this week.

An American defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said despite the expanding role the USA troops would still not be involved in direct combat.

Obama last month authorized a rare US drone strike deep inside Pakistan, killing Taliban supremo Mullah Akhtar Mansour in a raid which highlighted an aggressive new push to target the insurgents. The war began in October of 2001 with the USA invasion.

United States force commanders in Afghanistan have already said that pulling back troops from Afghanistan now will be a mistake.

“We have been moderately, pleasantly surprised at the willingness to stay at current levels of most other allies, and some willingness to consider increasing”, said the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “They’re fighting hard, but taking very heavy casualties”.

“I had asked for more authorities for the commander on the ground to help the Afghans out, and if this is what that is, I would be all for it”, he said.

The United States contributes 6,800 troops to NATO’s training mission in Afghanistan, which will fall to 3,400 under the current plan, the diplomat said.