A White House official has confirmed that the US will deploy an additional 4,000 troops to Afghanistan. The move follows concerns from top commanders that the Afghan army is being pushed back by a resurgent Taliban.
The latest wave of US troops will mainly be deployed to train and advise Afghan forces, following warnings by top US commanders in the region that the local military was facing a resurgent Taliban and a rising threat posed by the so-called "Islamic State" (IS) jihadi group.
According to the White House official, who spoke to The Associated Press news agency on condition of anonymity, a smaller number of US troops would also be assigned to counterterrorism operations in the region.
Mattis: The US is 'not winning' in Afghanistan
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The Pentagon is expected to announce the decision next week.
The rise in troop numbers follows US President Donald Trump's decision on Tuesday to give Defense Secretary Jim Mattis authority to set troops levels in Afghanistan. The move mirrored an earlier decision by the president to hand over similar powers to Mattis concerning the number of troops involved in the conflicts in Iraq and Syria.
Mattis has repeatedly stressed that increasing troop numbers is vital for the stabilization of Afghanistan. However, he has ruled out ever returning troop levels to what they were in 2010, when more than 100,000 soldiers were deployed in the besieged country.
At least 4 dead in Kabul mosque attack
The rising threat of terror in the regionwas seen earlier on Thursday when a suicide bomber attacked a Shiite mosque in the Afghan capital, Kabul, killing four people and wounding at least eight others.
Among the dead was the leader of Afghanistan's ethnic Hazaras, Hajji Ramazan Hussainzada. IS, which has frequently targeted Kabul's Shiite minority, claimed responsibility for the attack through its Amaq news agency.
Seventeen years after the US invasion of Afghanistan, the war-torn country remains in the grip of Islamist violence. A string of deadly attacks in the last year suggests militants are stronger than ever.
Image: picture alliance/Photoshot
Fragile security
Repeated attacks in Afghanistan in 2018 and 2019 have killed and wounded hundreds of innocent Afghans, and shown the world the fragile and worsening state of security in the conflict-stricken country. The incidents have plunged war-weary Afghan citizens into a state of despair and highlighted the limitations faced by the government in Kabul in ensuring public security.
Image: Reuters/M. Ismail
A long series of attacks
The violent incidents have made Afghanistan once again a staple of international headlines. Outfits like the Taliban and the "Islamic State" (IS) have claimed responsibility for the attacks. The Afghan government is under heavy pressure to restore security and take back territory controlled by a number of insurgent groups, including the Taliban and IS.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/M. Hossaini
Spring offensive
In 2018, the Taliban announced the start of their annual spring offensive, dismissing an offer of peace talks by President Ashraf Ghani. The militants, fighting to restore their version of strict Islamic law to Afghanistan, said their campaign was a response to a more aggressive US military strategy adopted in 2017, which aims to force the militants into peace talks.
Image: Reuters
Trump's Afghanistan policy
US President Donald Trump unveiled a new strategy for Afghanistan in 2017, vowing to deploy more troops to train and advise Afghan security forces. Trump also pledged to support Afghan troops in their war against the Taliban and maintain US presence in the country for as long as there was a need for it. In 2019, he reversed course and promised a troop pullout.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/B. Smialowski
Afghan peace process
Despite President Ghani's offer in February 2018 for peace talks "without preconditions," the Taliban had until 2019 shown no interest, dismissing the peace overtures as a "conspiracy."
Image: Getty Images/AFP/N. Shirzad
Pakistani support
Pakistan has been under pressure from Kabul and Washington to stop offering safe havens to militants blamed for attacks in Afghanistan, a charge Islamabad denies and insists that its influence over the insurgents has been exaggerated. Kabul and Islamabad regularly trade accusations of harboring the other country's militants and the harsh language has underscored the strains between them.
Image: DW/H. Hamraz
Role of the warlords
Apart from the Taliban, Afghan warlords exercise massive influence in the country. Last year, Hizb-i-Islami leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar returned to Kabul after a 20-year exile to play an active role in Afghan politics. In September 2016, the Afghan government signed a deal with Hekmatyar in the hope that other warlords and militant groups would seek better ties with Kabul.
Image: Reuters/O.Sobhani
An inefficient government
In the midst of an endless battle for power, President Ghani's approval ratings continue to plummet. Rampant corruption in the Afghan government and a long tug-of-war within the US-brokered national unity government has had a negative impact on the government's efforts to eradicate terrorism.
