The President of the United States Donald trump allowed the Pentagon to determine exactly how many troops need to be sent to Afghanistan. About it reports The Independent.
The corresponding statement was made by the Minister of defence James Mattis, speaking before one of the subcommittees of the Senate. The Minister noted that it is not going to immediately send to Afghanistan a new force. “It just helps us, facilitates missions and allows you to respond faster to changes in the situation, explained Mattis. In particular, our troops will be able to obtain air support”.
As the newspaper notes, trump has decided to expand the powers of the Pentagon a few days after Mattis announced that U.S. and Afghan security forces are losing the war to the Taliban. “The Taliban has made great strides in the past year, and they are trying to repeat their success in this, — said the Minister. And now, I must admit, they are close to it”.
Currently in Afghanistan there are 8.5 thousand of American soldiers and 4.5 thousand soldiers of NATO countries. Previously the commander of us forces General John Nicholson said that in order to reverse the situation, he needed several thousand more troops.