North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies agreed on Saturday to help fund Afghan security forces to the tune of around $1 billion annually over the next three years, despite public fatigue in Western countries about their involvement in the long-running conflict.
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Earlier, the administration had chose to keep the target at 5,500 troops, but because “the security situation in Afghanistan remains precarious”, and there’re threats from the Taliban and attempts from al-Qaeda to regroup and ISIS to gain hold, the new troops level will be at 8,400.
“We will provide AWACS support and the plan is to have them to flying over global airspace and Turkey and that will allow us to look into airspace in Iraq and Syria”, Stoltenberg told a news conference.
He hinted there were still some pledges due to come in, adding, “We are very close (to the target) and I’m certain that we will reach that level”.
The Prime Minister also confirmed that Britain is to send an additional 50 troops to Afghanistan in a training and mentoring role while extending the mission of the 450 already there to help shore up the Afghan security forces.
Obama announced last week that he would keep 8,400 USA troops in Afghanistan after this year, rather than cut their numbers to 5,500 as he once planned.
Now, more than 8,000 troops will remain, and it will be up to Obama’s successor to order any further reductions.
Together with Afghanistan’s President Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah, they discussed the security situation in Afghanistan and the reform process carried out by the Afghan National Unity Government, according to a news release by teh alliance. Under the old rules of engagement the USA was only allowed to intervene on behalf of the Afghan defense forces when it was about to suffer a particularly devastating military setback.
U.S. analysts say the changing troop levels reflect a continuing readjustment of troop levels by Obama as he’s struggled between competing goals of maintaining stability in the former terrorist safe haven while fulfilling promises to end the war by the end of his presidency. “Yet here, in the pre-dawn darkness of Afghanistan, we can see the light of a new day on the horizon”. It acknowledges the threat not just from a resilient Taliban insurgency and an al-Qaida that shows signs of regrouping, but also the attempts by the Islamic State to make Afghanistan its latest seedbed for terror.
They are not engaged in a combat capacity. He declared in 2013 that it would be mission accomplished for British forces after the end of the troop drawdown the following year.
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They were expected to return at the end of 2015 but Michael Fallon, the defence secretary, last year confirmed the troops would remain throughout this year.
