US President Barack Obama speaking at the White House, has confirmed plans to extend the US military presence in Afghanistan beyond 2016, in a shift in policy. He said the US would keep 5,500 troops in the country when he leaves office in 2017. There are currently 9,800 US troops stationed in Afghanistan. The US forces will be stationed in four locations – Kabul, Bagram, Jalalabad and Kandahar.
The US military seems to have forced the policy shift in the light of the resurgent Taliban. Originally all but a small embassy-based force were due to leave by the end of next year.
Announcing the plan on Thursday, President Obama said the troop extension could “make a real difference” for Afghanistan and Afghan security forces, which he acknowledged were “not as strong” as they needed to be.
He said the ending of Nato combat operations in December last year had come at a price, with many Afghan troops and civilians killed since the Taliban stepped up its insurgency.
“It’s the right thing to do,” the president said about the policy change. “As commander in chief I will not allow Afghanistan to be used as safe haven for terrorists to attack our nation again.”
“For the Taliban”, he continued, “it should be clear that the only way to achieve a full pullout of US troops is through a lasting settlement with the Afghan government”.
He described the mission in Afghanistan as “vital to US national security interests”.
President Obama had previously planned to reduce the number of troops left in Afghanistan to about 1,000 by the time he left office in January 2017.
An earlier statement from the US National Security Council said the change in policy was the “result of an extensive, months-long review”, and after Mr Obama had consulted “with his full national security team and our Afghan partners”.
“This announcement in no way changes the fact that our combat mission in Afghanistan has ended, and we will continue to undertake only two narrow missions: counterterrorism and training, advising, and assisting our Afghan partners,” the statement went on.
Graph showing US troops in Afghanistan from 2002 to 2015.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani is expected to welcome the move, as he had been pushing for a slower withdrawal of US troops to allow Afghan forces to be better trained and equipped.
The top US military commander in Afghanistan, Gen John Campbell, expressed concern last week over the “tenuous security situation” and said an enhanced military presence would be necessary if the Taliban were to be repelled.
