The United States military under President Donald Trump has reduced America’s force in Afghanistan, according to the top commander in the region.
During a news conference in Kabul on Monday, American commander Gen. Austin “Scott” Miller announced the force reduction as Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper visited the region.
That leaves about 12,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
Under President Obama, the number of troops in Afghanistan surged to 100,000 in 2011 before gradually reducing the number to about 8,400 before leaving office.
In 2017, Trump deployed additional troops in Afghanistan to bring the force to about 14,000 but cautioned against making announcements on planned troop withdrawals.
“Conditions on the ground — not arbitrary timetables — will guide our strategy from now on,” he said, outlining the new strategy in Afghanistan.
President Trump declared the peace talks with the Taliban “dead” in September after they took responsibility for a terrorist attack that killed an American soldier, and promised to escalate attacks in the region.
“We’d like to get out, but we’ll get out at the right time,” he said.
American troops are also withdrawing from Syria to Iraq, although the president appears willing to leave a few hundred in the region to protect the country’s oil resources from falling into the hands of terrorists.
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