Afghanistan

Pentagon withdrawing 7,000 troops from Afghanistan

President Donald Trump has directed the Pentagon to withdraw thousands of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in coming months, with an eye towards ending the 17-year deployment of American forces there, a U.S. official confirmed to Military Times.

The Wall Street Journal first reported that more than 7,000 service members will begin returning from Afghanistan in coming weeks, per a White House order. The move comes just a day after Trump signaled plans to remove all U.S. forces from Syria, declaring that “We have won against ISIS.”

The U.S. official said there is no timeline set for the return of the troops.

The news also comes on the same day as the announced resignation of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who said he is leaving the administration so Trump can find a military leader “whose views are better aligned with yours.”

The withdrawal announcement also comes amid news first reported by Military Times that Erik Prince’s former security contractor firm, Blackwater USA, had announced its return. Prince has lobbied the Trump administration since the president took office to privatize the war in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan

Trump might stay in Afghanistan for minerals — and it could endanger US national security

But deploying more troops to help guard mines for American companies would endanger US national security, Laurel Miller, a Rand Corporation analyst and former US diplomat to Afghanistan, told Business Insider.

It "would be an excellent propaganda point for the Taliban," Miller said, adding that "decisions based on sending troops are best made on national security interests."

Miller said that the national security risk would be eliminated if the US opened up bidding to companies worldwide, which would still benefit Afghanistan's economy too.

Opening up bidding, however, would risk American lives and treasure to help build Afghanistan's economy — something Trump said he opposed during the election.

Afghanistan

More than 50 feared dead in Taliban attack on Afghan forces base – US military

Dozens have been killed in an ongoing attack on an Afghan military base, a US military official said, adding that the death toll may be over 50, Reuters reports.

"We're talking probably more than 50 casualties," said Colonel John Thomas, a spokesman for the U.S. military's Central Command, as quoted by Reuters.

"There is a mosque and a dining facility on the base that seemed to, at this point from our reports, be the subject of significant attack from enemy forces."

Afghanistan

America Can't Afford to Keep Losing the War in Afghanistan

The Taliban raised their white flag in parts of Baghlan Province in Afghanistan on April 7, just one month after Afghan forces had recaptured the Baghlan’s Tala wa Barfak District from the terror group. Like in Baghlan, the Taliban seek to extend their influence in provinces where they already have a presence. As the Taliban launch their spring offensive, the Trump administration has yet to announce its strategy for the war in Afghanistan.

Gen. John Nicholson, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, told the Senate Armed Services Committee in February that the security situation in Afghanistan was at a stalemate. He estimated that an additional several thousand troops would be needed to reverse that stalemate. Gen. Jospeh Votel, commander of the U.S Central Command, made a similar assertion to the committee in March.

We have already had more than three troop surges in the country.

Afghanistan

Afghan Forces Launch Major Anti-IS Offensive

Afghan troops, backed by American air support, Sunday launched a major offensive against Islamic State, or IS, bases in the eastern Nangarhar province.

A regional military spokesman, Shirin Aqa, told reporters in the provincial capital of Jalalabad that security forces have been tasked to clear Kot and Haska districts of IS militants before extending the action to other districts. Afghans refer to IS by its Arabic acronym of Daesh.

He said that both military and police forces have been involved in the counter-IS operation and they will be provided with air support by US forces if needed. The army spokesman explained that the offensive will continue until the threat is eliminated in the area.

Afghanistan

UN: NATO air raids kill 18 civilians in Helmand

Civilians, mostly women and children, were killed last week in air raids by NATO forces in Afghanistan's Helmand province, an initial United Nations inquiry suggested.

On Thursday and Friday as many as 18 civilians died in air strikes in Helmand's Sangin district, according to a UN statement released on Sunday.

The UN said the strikes had been conducted by "international military forces," but only US aircraft have been involved in recent coalition strikes, according to US military officials.

Other US military officials said their aircraft have conducted around 30 air raids in Helmand in the past week. NATO's Resolute Support mission has initiated an inquiry into the incident.

Afghanistan

Official: Taliban launch nearly 19,000 attacks in 10 months

An Afghan Defense Ministry official says the Taliban have launched nearly 19,000 attacks throughout the country in the last 10 months. By comparison the Afghan National Security Forces carried out roughly 700 counter-insurgency operations during the same period.

Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri said Tuesday he didn't have a comparative figure from the previous year, "but this year it was much worse for the number of attacks by the Taliban."

While fighting traditionally eases during the winter months, observers say the attacks this year have continued at a steady pace. 

Afghanistan

How to Win in Afghanistan

Fifteen years, thousands of lives and tens of billions of dollars later, the United States has failed to meet most of its key objectives in Afghanistan. Mission failed.

Now what? Our current approach, if allowed to continue, guarantees a chaotic future for Afghanistan and an open door for radical Islamists in Central Asia.

Such a state of affairs would herald a major strategic defeat for the United States. Islamists ultimately seek to seize control in both Afghanistan, and Pakistan, and then expand into Central Asia.

Afghanistan

A Special Relationship

The United States is teaming up with Al Qaeda, again

One morning early in 1988, Ed McWilliams, a foreign-service officer posted to the American Embassy in Kabul, heard the thump of a massive explosion from somewhere on the other side of the city. It was more than eight years after the Russian invasion of Afghanistan, and the embassy was a tiny enclave with only a handful of diplomats. McWilliams, a former Army intelligence operative, had made it his business to venture as much as possible into the Soviet-occupied capital. Now he set out to see what had happened.

Afghanistan

Attacks on army, police, US special forces kill 50 in Kabul

A wave of attacks on Afghan army, police and U.S. special forces in Kabul on Friday killed at least 50 people and wounded hundreds, dimming hopes that the Taliban might be weakened by a leadership struggle after their longtime leader's death.

The bloodshed began with a truck bomb that exploded in a heavily populated district of the capital and ended with an hours-long battle at a base used by U.S. special forces. It became the deadliest day in Kabul in years.