WASHINGTON - The US defense officials submitted their report to the Congress on Thursday which says the reinforcement significantly increased pressures on the Taliban.
Recent gains by US and Afghan forces under the Trump administration’s South Asia strategy could be in jeopardy if Washington presses ahead with plans to slash the number of American troops in Afghanistan by half, says a Pentagon assessment of the 17-year-old conflict in Afghanistan mentioned in a report by Washington Times.
The report says that US Defense Department analysts suggest in an annual assessment of the Afghan war that any let up in pressure against the Taliban could derail efforts to secure peace talks with the insurgent group.
“The reinforcement and realignment of US and coalition forces and authorities under the South Asia Strategy have significantly increased pressure on the Taliban,” defense officials wrote in the report and submitted to Congress on Thursday.
Trump’s decision last year to send an additional 3,000 US troops in to Afghanistan as part of his South Asia strategy “stabilized the situation in Afghanistan, slowing the momentum of a Taliban march that had capitalized on US drawdowns between 2011 and 2016,” the analysts wrote, adding that “the key to success remains sustained military pressure against the Taliban” by Afghan forces backed by the nearly 14,000 US services members still in country.
“Convincing the Taliban that they cannot win on the battlefield, and credibly committing to a conditions-based strategy” under the South Asia plan, Kabul and Washington “have greatly increased the odds of concluding a settlement” to bring America’s longest war to an end, they said.
On Sunday, the US and NATO Forces Commander in Afghanistan Gen. Scott Miller in a meeting with Nangarhar governor on Sunday assured that they will continue to support the Afghan forces even if they get an order about troop withdrawal – an issue which Miller says is rumors by “newspapers”.
“I have seen the same rumors I have from the newspapers but all I would assure you is first of all I have no orders, so nothing changed,” he said in the meeting.
Miller said their support to Afghan forces will continue in the same level.
“But if I do get orders, I think it is important for you to know that we are still with the security forces. Even if I have get a little bit smaller, we will be okay,” he said.
Meanwhile, Miller insisted on a political solution for Afghanistan and said that “political settlement will only happen through Afghans talking to Afghans".
The US general said much has been said about Afghan forces casualties but "Taliban casualties have been very dire as well".
“What I think is important is -- I have talked often about -- a political solution, not a military solution to this conflict. It is time for the hostilities to end and it will only happen through Afghans talking to Afghans,” Miller said. “It is the time to end those hostilities to start talking to one another.”
There are at least 14,000 forces in Afghanistan who are engaged in counterterror as well as train and advise mission for their Afghan counterparts. (Tolo news)