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US considering higher troop levels in Afghanistan: Officials

US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter speaks during a question-and-answer session with US military personnel at Kandahar Airfield in the Afghan city of Kandahar on February 22, 2015. (AFP Photo)

The White House is bowing to Pentagon leaders who want to maintain higher levels of American troops in Afghanistan by year’s end, US officials say.

US President Barack Obama revealed last year that a residual force of 9,800 troops would remain in Afghanistan for one year after the formal end of combat operations in December 2014.

According to the plan, that number would be cut to 5,500 at the end of this year and reduced to a small military presence at the US Embassy in Kabul by the end of 2016.

But US officials are now saying the Obama administration is abandoning that plan and is poised to keep many of the 9,800 troops there well into next year, according to the Associated Press.

There are also plans under discussion that would allow a steady number of “counterterrorism troops” to stay in Afghanistan in 2015, and some to remain in the country beyond 2016. Currently, about 2,000 such troops are operating in Afghanistan.

It is not clear yet whether the White House will agree to a small decrease in troop levels by the end of this year or insist on a larger withdrawal, according to officials familiar with the debate.

Officials said President Obama will probably announce his decision on the new plan when Afghan President Ashraf Ghani visits Washington later this month.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter and other Pentagon leaders appear increasingly confident that the US military will keep a robust presence in Afghanistan beyond year's end.

In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee last month, Gen. John Campbell, the top US commander in Afghanistan, said there was evidence the ISIL terrorist group was recruiting in Afghanistan and that some Taliban members were declaring allegiance to the Takfiri group.

Members of Congress, including Sen. John McCain, Republican of Arizona and the committee’s chairman, have also warned against a sharp cut in troops this year.

HRJ/HRJ


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