Taliban Promises the US a Continuing Battle

The United States will keep 9,800 troops in Afghanistan for the majority of next year, announced President Barack Obama on Thursday. The Taliban answered saying that the war will continue until the last U.S. soldier has left the country.

“The Afghan forces are not as strong as they need to be,” Obama said, adding that the U.S. military insertion of 9,800 soldiers “can make a real difference.”

Obama said that Afghanistan must not become a haven for terrorists and that the U.S. will continue to train Afghan government forces and participate in operations against terrorism.

The Taliban responded to Obama’s gambit and said they will continue fighting until the U.S. finally leaves Afghanistan.

“They were the ones who decided to invade Afghanistan, but it will be us who decide when they leave,” said spokesman Zabiullah Majahid.

The American force should reduce to 5,500 military personnel by the beginning of 2017, who will be stationed among four bases. This means that the U.S. is going to be withdrawing troops from Afghanistan at a slower pace than originally expected. The plan initially was that all soldiers, with the exception of a force stationed at the embassy in Kabul, would have left Afghanistan by the end of next year.

For this reason, it appears that Obama is set to fail in his goal of pulling troops out of Afghanistan before he leaves office in January 2017.

Since the end of 2014, the Afghan government has been responsible for security and for the fight against the Taliban, with the help of the U.S. and NATO. However, the Afghan army has not proved itself capable of withstanding the Taliban, who have been steadily gaining ground.

The Taliban recently managed to take the regional capital of Kunduz in northern Afghanistan, which has shaken confidence in the Afghan government forces’ ability to stand up to the Taliban.