US 'not winning' in Afghanistan
Pentagon chief Jim Mattis told exasperated lawmakers Tuesday that America still is "not winning" in Afghanistan, as US military commanders push for additional troops to help stabilize the country's security crisis.
Mattis's latest assessment comes nearly 16 years after the US-led invasion of Afghanistan and amid a war that continues to claim the lives of US troops each year -- and those of thousands of local forces and civilians.
The "Taliban had a good year last year, they are trying to have a good one this year," Mattis told the Senate Armed Services Committee at a hearing about the Pentagon's budget.
"Right now I believe the enemy is surging."
US military commanders, who saw fragile security gains eroded under Obama-era troop draw-downs, have been pushing for a new strategy that could see thousands of additional soldiers deploy to Afghanistan to help train and advise beleaguered Afghan partners.
Media reports have said Mattis is considering asking for 3,000 to 5,000 additional US and Nato troops, but the defense chief has said little on the matter.
In February, General John Nicholson, who commands Nato forces in Afghanistan, warned that he needs "a few thousand" more troops to reverse what he called a stalemate.
Despite months of expectation that a new Afghanistan strategy announcement is imminent, Mattis said this would not be ready before mid-July.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has granted the Pentagon authority to set troop levels in Afghanistan, a US official said Tuesday, a move that could lead to the deployment of thousands more soldiers.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official told AFP that Pentagon chief Jim Mattis can now directly adjust troop numbers, though the official would not confirm whether a new "force management level" -- currently at around 8,400 -- had been finalized.
"The White House has done the same that it did with Iraq and Syria, which is to grant the secretary of defense the authority to set troop levels," the official said, referring to recent adjustments Trump has approved for the fight against the Islamic State group in those two countries.
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, during his Kabul visit yesterday, said there is no military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan that is forcing record numbers of people from their homes.
"Peace is the solution for the problem," said Guterres, previously a United Nations' high commissioner for refugees.
At least 126,000 Afghans have been forced to flee their homes, the United Nations said.
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