“President Obama responsibly ended the war in Iraq and will end the war in Afghanistan in 2014”. A firefight broke out.
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Master Sgt. Joshua Wheeler, a highly decorated Delta Force leader and father of four, was shot dead during a rescue mission on an ISIS-held facility in Iraq. That’s an inherent risk that we ask people to assume, again, it wasn’t part of the plan, but it was something that he did and I’m immensely proud that he did that.
A gun battle erupted in Khamab district of northern Jawzjan province earlier today, two days after the district was cleared in operations led by the Vice President Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum.
“Our troops are not engaged in major ground combat against the Taliban”.
But those Afghans need a lot of help. We got a c-17 coming in right now. Armed and unmanned aircraft patrol the skies. If we needed to, yes, we would. The number just this year, astoni astonishing.
Those who stayed burned their government IDs, shredded polio vaccination documents and tore down pictures of unveiled women as residents hastened to erase anything that could invite the wrath of occupying Taliban cadres. General John Campbell, commander of the mission in Afghanistan, told ABC News it was a very tough fighting season.
The United Nations says the Taliban control or contest one fifth of the country.
The pressure was already there due to the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan, but it became a matter of urgency when the Taliban in a swift blitz on September 28 captured the provincial capital, Kunduz, the sixth biggest city in the country with a population of 300,000.
Campbell had to deal with these threats even as the USA has been drawing down troops.
Less intelligence about the enemy also worries Afghan National Security Adviser, Mohammed Hanif Atmar. So, they are not as watched as they used to be.
Salam Khan, a resident of Nad Ali district, said foreign forces launched airstrikes on Taliban positions at midnight and the raid lasted until early morning. “They’re going to continue to do that”. However, the resurgent Taliban by capturing Kunduz forced President Obama’s hand to make a quick decision to slow down the pullout of the remaining American soldiers.
The USA military’s presence and financial sustainment will send a strong message to the global community that the U.S.is committed to Afghanistan and is intent on fostering long-term stability, he added. The U.S. troops would now drawdown to 5,500 starting sometime in 2017 and would be deployed at Kabul, Bagram, Kandahar and Jalalabad. Which killed at least 30 staff and patients. Reporter: An investigation is still ongoing.
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This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
