US general says NATO needs more troops in Afghanistan

Trump has not laid out any detailed new strategy for Afghanistan in his first weeks in office, but during the campaign, he reluctantly accepted that US troops would remain.

MENA

2 min read

The New Arab & agencies

10 February, 2017

Afghan government police and armed forces now take the lead in battle against Taliban [Getty]

The US general commanding NATO forces in Afghanistan warned on Thursday that he needs thousands more troops.

US-led forces have been fighting in Afghanistan for 16 years, making it already America's longest-ever war, but General John Nicholson told Congress: "I believe we're in a stalemate."

The question of whether to double down in the seemingly endless conflict will now become one of the first major military strategy questions of President Donald Trump's term.

Trump has not laid out any detailed new strategy for Afghanistan in his first weeks in office, but during the campaign, he reluctantly accepted that US troops would remain.

Last month, the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump had suggested in a call to Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani that he would consider sending more soldiers. The pair spoke again on Thursday.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters that Trump would seek the advice of Defence Secretary James Mattis before deciding on Nicholson's request for reinforcements.

The NATO alliance has 13,300 troops in Afghanistan, about half of them American, assisting a much larger Afghan force in a war against the Taliban and other Islamist militants.

Afghan government police and armed forces now take the lead in the battle against the Taliban, which was forced from power in Kabul after the 2001 US-led invasion.

US battlefield deaths are relatively rare since the transfer of primary responsibility to Afghan forces.

But the Afghans are facing mounting casualties – their losses in 2016 were up by a third over 2015, with 6,785 killed in the first 10 months of the year – and losing ground.

Last year was also particularly deadly for Afghan civilians. A UN report found that 11,500 were killed or injured in 2016, the most since it began keeping records in 2009.

Nicholson told the committee that having more US and allied troops would allow him to train and advise Afghan units down to a brigade level and in ministries in Kabul.

The general said he was discussing the request for reinforcements with his own chain of command and that Mattis would talk to the NATO allies.