Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Kerry says Obama to decide soon on US troops level in Afghanistan

The US Secretary of State John Kerry has said President Barack Obama will decide soon on adjusting the level of US troops in Afghanistan.
“I think the president is on the right track, and I think the evaluation that is going on now with respect to the adjustment of the troop (level) is appropriate. And the president will make his decision shortly,” Kerry quoted by Reuters said.
This comes as the US Defense Secretary nominee Ashton Carter had earlier this month that he would consider changing the current plans for withdrawing all U.S. troops from Afghanistan by the end of next year if security conditions worsen.
In the meantime, Carter visited Afghanistan earlier this week to meet American troops and commanders, Afghan leaders and assess whether U.S. withdrawal plans are too risky to Afghan security.
Carter said the withdrawal plan of US troops from Afghanistan will be discussed in further details during President Ghani’s visit to US next month.
He said the withdrawal plan was discussed during his to Kabul with the Afghan officials and insisted that the issue should be reconsidered.
The former US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said earlier in December last year that up to 10,800 US troops would remain in Afghanistan for the first few months of 2015 but the drawdown will restart and the number of US troops would be reduced to 5,500 by the end of the same year.

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