The Pentagon will send almost 4,000 additional American forces to , according to a Trump administration official, an attempt to break a stalemate in a war that has now passed to a third US commander-in-chief, The Guardian reported.
The decision by defense secretary Jim could be announced as early as next week, the official said, and will be the largest deployment of American manpower under Donald Trump’s young presidency.
It follows Trump’s move to give the authority to set troop levels and seeks to address assertions by the top US commander in that he does not have enough forces to help ’s army against a resurgent Taliban insurgency. The rising threat posed by Islamic State extremists, evidenced in a rash of deadly attacks in the capital city of Kabul, has only fueled calls for a stronger US presence, as have several recent American combat deaths.
The bulk of the additional troops will train and advise Afghan forces, according to the administration official, who was not authorized to discuss details of the decision publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. A smaller number would be assigned to counterterror operations against the Taliban and Isis, the official said.
