WASHINGTON — The United States will keep 9,800 military personnel in Afghanistan through the end of 2015, and President Barack Obama said he’ll decide later whether to further adjust his original timetable for withdrawals next year.
The agreement made by Obama and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani at a White House meeting Tuesday means that U.S. troop levels will remain static this year to help Afghan forces counter attacks by the Taliban. Obama originally planned to reduce U.S. forces to about 5,500 troops by the end of 2015.
Obama’s timetable still calls for leaving only about 1,000 troops in Afghanistan, mostly to protect U.S. facilities, by the time he leaves office in January 2017.
The decision comes as Afghanistan and nearby countries face growing threats from extremist groups, which have seized territory and carried out attacks in Iraq, Syria, Yemen and elsewhere.
Ghani
said flexibility in the withdrawal timetable for U.S. troops will help accelerate reforms in the government and training and equipping Afghanistan’s security forces.
The United States declared its combat role in Afghanistan ended Dec. 31. U.S. and NATO troops are now training Afghan security forces and conducting counterterrorist missions against the Taliban and groups such as Islamic State, al-Qaeda and the Haqqani Network.
