U.S. Reduces Planned Forces For Afghanistan

U.S. Reduces Planned Forces For Afghanistan

The newly released plans of the Obama administration regarding Afghanistan, show that a revision will be made in the number of troops stationed after the massive troop withdrawal that will take place in the following two years.

The original plan called for a minimum of 15.000 troops to remain in Afghanistan and offer both training for the Afghan military and police, and also to provide permanent bases in the southern towns of Kandahar and Helmand where the Taliban presence is the strongest.

The initial plan also saw an important number of troops and combat posts to be based in the city of Jalalabad in the East close to the border with Pakistan, another region that has a very strong Taliban presence.

The new plan only seems to provide a number between 6000 and 9000 troops to be stationed in Afghanistan, most of them operating from Bagram airbase 25 miles north of Kabul, plus some other bases near the Afghan capital.

Officials at the Pentagon strongly advise against the reduction in the number of troops and say that such a small presence can barely offer protection to the American Embassy, Presidential Palace and little training to Afghan troops. The possibility of air support and the sending of warplanes however was left open in case the Afghanistan military would require it.

Posted by James Fried on Thursday December 13 2012, 2:21 AM EST. Ref: LA Times. Link. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under World. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0