Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Congress on Wednesday that the Pentagon is considering several options to reduce the number of troops in Afghanistan, including one that would shift to a narrower counterterrorism mission, AP reported.
Gen. Milley did not mention any troop numbers, but he agreed that leaving a minimal US footprint in Afghanistan to fight counter-terrorism is a potential move.
“We have multiple options, that’s one of them,” he said.
In the meantime, Mark Esper, US Secretary of Defense, testified alongside Milley and told the committee that the US military must remain focused on the counterterrorism mission even as efforts are made to negotiate a peace deal with the Taliban.
“We have an important counterterrorism mission in Afghanistan,” he said. “That means we’ve got to make sure Afghanistan never becomes again a safe haven for terrorists that can strike the United States.”
The US has approximately 13,000 troops in Afghanistan and about 5,000 of them are doing counterterrorism missions. The remainder are part of NATO’s mission to train, advise and assist the Afghan security forces.
