US Democrat: 10K troops should stay in Afghanistan, maybe for 'decades'
A senior US Democratic lawmaker says 10,000 American troops should remain in Afghanistan to prevent the Taliban from gaining control.
Refraining from elaboration on how long that force should stay in the country, senior Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Brad Sherman, told CNN that the struggle against the Taliban militant group would "last decades more into the future."
Sherman added that "Afghanistan is just one of the many battlefields... If we ignore the Middle East, the Middle East will still not ignore us."
His remarks followed Taliban's claim of responsibility on Monday for a suicide bombing that killed six US troops conducting a patrol around Bagram Air Base, 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of the Afghan capital Kabul, wherein 9,800 US troops have remained after military drawdown.
Among the six dead US troops identified was New York City Detective Joseph Lemm, a 15-year veteran of the NYPD who also volunteered in the US Air National Guard and was on his third deployment to war zones.
The attack on US troops was launched more than a week after Taliban targeted a guesthouse of the Spanish embassy in Kabul and another air base in the southern province of Kandahar.
The US and its allies invaded Afghanistan in 2001 as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror. The offensive removed the Taliban from power, but militants still continue deadly attacks across the country.
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