Mattis in Afghanistan amid calls for troop increase

[nitpicker]

http://www.militarytimes.com/articles/mattis-afghanistan-troop-increase

Mattis in Afghanistan amid calls for troop increase

By: Shawn Snow and Mackenzie Wolf, April 24, 2017

WASHINGTON — U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis arrived in Afghanistan on Monday for meetings with top Afghan and American officials. The visit, which the Pentagon did not previously make public, comes as President Donald Trump's administration evaluates its next moves in the 15-year campaign. Army Gen. John Nicholson, the war's top commander, has requested an unspecified number of additional troops — believed to number in the thousands — who can accelerate military training for the Afghan security forces and, it is hoped, reverse the Taliban's surging momentum in several parts of the country.
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Mattis has been traveling throughout the region since last week, visiting key leaders in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Israel, Djibouti and Qatar.

In Afghanistan, where roughly 8,400 American troops continue to advise and assist local forces, the U.S has stepped up operations to target Taliban commanders. On Saturday, officials announced an airstrike on April 17 killed Quari Tayib, who had launched attacks against U.S. forces. Meanwhile, the U.S. is conducting counter-terror operations against Islamic State loyalists — the group is known as ISIS-Khorasan, or ISIS-K — near the Afghan-Pakistan border. A U.S. Green Beret, Staff Sgt. Mark De Alencar, was killed in action there in early April. U.S. forces recently targeted the group with a massive airstrike, bombing a cave complex occupied by ISIS fighters.
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While U.S. counter-terror efforts have focused on al-Qaida and ISIS fighters in Afghanistan, a resurgent Taliban has managed to overrun large swaths of territory, threatening U.S. efforts in the region. The U.S. is pushing for political reconciliation between the the Taliban and Afghanistan's government in Kabul. Several secret meetings took place in Qatar this fall. But those negotiations have produced few results, and Taliban militants continue to threaten numerous population centers.
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