Alwaght- The United States is set to deploy an estimated 1,000 new troops to Afghanistan as part of the Donald Trump administration’s planned troop surge, according to reports.
US military officials told the Wall Street Journal the Pentagon hopes to dramatically increase the American military presence in Afghanistan in time for spring, when the “fighting season” begins.
A large fleet of armed and unarmed drones will also be sent to the country, which will provide the US advisers with air support, as well as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
President Trump announced in August that 3,000 to 4,000 more troops would be sent to Afghanistan in an attempt to finally score a decisive victory in a war that has dragged on for more than fifteen years.
As part of Trump’s strategy, the White House has delegated substantial decision-making authority to his generals. The new management style has been coupled with a penchant for secrecy regarding troop deployment numbers.
General John Nicholson, the head of US forces in Afghanistan, told reporters last month there would be more US boots on the ground in the coming months, but did not provide specifics.
There are “well over 1,000 advisers out at any given time,” Nicholson said, but in 2018 “this [number] will increase dramatically.”
The US -- under Republican George W. Bush’s regime -- and its allies invaded Afghanistan on October 7, 2001 as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror. The offensive removed the Taliban regime from power, but after more than one and a half decades, the foreign troops still occupy the country.
After his election in 2008, President Barack Obama, a Democrat, vowed to end the Afghan war -- one of the longest conflicts in US history – but he failed to keep his promise.
Trump, who has spoken against the Afghan war, has dubbed the 2001 invasion and following occupation of Afghanistan as "Obama's war," but he has also announced to deploy thousands of more troops to the war-torn country, signaling a policy shift.
Since 2001, 1,874 US soldiers have been killed in action in Afghanistan and more than 20,000 more have been wounded, according to Pentagon data.
The presence of US-led troops in Afghanistan has failed to end insurgency in the country while the production of narcotics has increased manifold.
