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Obama widens post-2014 combat role for US forces in Afghanistan

President Barack Obama has approved plans to give US military commanders a wider role to fight the Taliban alongside Afghan forces after the current mission ends next month, a senior administration official said.

 

The decision made in recent weeks extends previous plans by authorising US troops to carry out combat operations against the Taliban to protect Americans and support Afghanistan's security forces as part of the new ISAF Resolute Support mission next year.

 

Obama had announced in May that US troop levels would be cut to 9,800 by the end of the year, by half again in 2015 and to a normal embassy presence with a security assistance office in Kabul by the end of 2016.

 

Under that plan, only a small contingent of 1,800 US troops was limited to counterterrorism operations against remnants of al Qaeda. The new orders will also allow operations against the Taliban.

 


פרסום ראשון: 11.23.14, 13:43