26 January 2017

News Story: Trump Told Ghani He Would Consider Troop Increase

U.S President Donald Trump told President Ashraf Ghani in a call in December that he would consider sending more American troops, Afghan officials said, in a step to halt the deterioration in the country's security.

Afghan officials said Trump - at the time president-elect - and Ghani talked about the security situation and relations with Pakistan and Trump asked if the Afghan leader needed more U.S troops.

"President-elect Donald J. Trump said he would certainly continue to support Afghanistan security forces and will consider a proposal for more troops after an assessment," according to one Afghan official briefed on the call.

U.S. military officials in Afghanistan declined to comment on the assertion. The White House didn't respond to a request to comment on the call.

Trump, who hasn't outlined a plan for the war in Afghanistan, has inherited a difficult dilemma. He can either risk letting the security situation unravel further or again escalate U.S involvement in a war that has dragged on for more than 15 years.

Pentagon officials said there was little expectation of an imminent announcement about additional troops for Afghanistan.

Read the full story at TOLOnews