America
Obama puts US troop drawdown in Afghanistan on hold
Washington, March 25
US President Barack Obama
has announced no drawdown of the current 9,800 US troops stationed in
Afghanistan will occur through the end of 2015.
Noting that
Afghanistan "remains a dangerous place," Obama said on Tuesday in a
joint press conference with visiting Afghan President Ashraf Ghani that
given the upcoming spring war season with Afghan militants, it is
worthwhile to grant flexibility requested by Ghani in terms of the US
drawdown timeline, Xinhua reported.
Obama had previously planed
to reduce the current level of 9, 800 US troops in Afghanistan to around
5,500 by the end of 2015 and withdraw all troops by the end of 2016
when his presidency comes to an end.
However, Ghani has made
clear on many occasions that such a timeline for a US army withdrawal
would jeopardise the security situation on the ground. Prior to his
American visit, he had also repeatedly told US media that the extremist
group Islamic State was targeting Afghanistan and gaining influence
within the nation.
Meanwhile, a joint US-Afghanistan statement
issued shortly before the press conference said the specific trajectory
of the 2016 US troops drawdown will be established later this year to
allow consolidation of the US troops to a Kabul-based embassy presence
by the end of 2016.