US to send about 4,000 more troops to Afghanistan

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/338076-us-to-send-about-4000-more-troops-to-afghanistan

US to send about 4,000 more troops to Afghanistan
By Brooke Seipel - 06/15/17 09:54 PM EDT


The Pentagon plans to send almost 4,000 additional United States troops to Afghanistan, according to a new report by The Associated Press.

A Trump administration official told AP Thursday that more troops would be sent and the decision could be announced as soon as next week. The nearly 4,000 troops would be the largest deployment under President Trump so far.

According to the report, the additional troops will train and advise Afghan forces. Others would be assigned to counterterror operations against the Taliban and the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

The administration has been considering sending additional troops for some time. Trump had reportedly been weighing a request to send 3,000 to 5,000 more U.S. troops to the country to break what top generals have described as a stalemate.

Earlier this week Defense Secretary James Mattis told lawmakers that the U.S. is “not winning” in Afghanistan.

“We are not winning in Afghanistan right now,” Mattis said at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, “and we will correct this as soon as possible.”

About 8,400 U.S. troops are currently in Afghanistan on a dual mission of training, advising and assisting Afghan troops in their fight against the Taliban and conducting counterterrorism missions against groups such as al Qaeda and ISIS.