NATO to keep about 12,000 troops in Afghanistan through next year

NATO has decided to maintain a steady level of about 12,000 troops in Afghanistan during 2016. It also launched a campaign to fund 350,000 Afghan forces it hopes will be able eventually to secure Afghanistan against the Taliban.

Even 14 years after the United States first sent troops to Afghanistan, many NATO members still doubt the ability of the Afghan armed forces to defend against the Taliban. Just recently, the Taliban took over the city of Kunduz in the north. The U.S. bombed a Doctors Without Borders hospital using an AC-130 gunship, killing 30 people. In spite of serious questions about the military report on the incident, neither the U.S. nor the Afghans have given approval for an independent investigation. The security situation appears to be getting worse rather than better with the U.S. embassy warning U.S. citizens that there may be an attack in the capital, Kabul, in the next 24 hours. Officials claimed the attacks could include multiple assailants and car bombs throughout Kabul but no specific targets were identified.

Originally, the 28-member NATO alliance had intended to slash the number of troops in Afghanistan by the end of this year but given recent attacks by the Taliban and the apparent inability of the Afghan forces to fend off the Taliban on their own NATO has decided to leave a considerable force in the country. The rise of the Islamic State in Afghanistan also concerns NATO. Secretary-General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg said: "We are in Afghanistan to prevent that Afghanistan again becomes a safe haven for international terrorists ... that is also in our security interest to make sure that that doesn't happen." The NATO operation, Resolute Support will continue with no end date given by Stoltenberg: "Today, NATO allies and Resolute Support operational partners have agreed to sustain the Resolute Support presence ... during 2016. The mission ... will continue to be kept under review and, if necessary, will be adjusted to ensure its effectiveness."The 12,000 NATO forces will consist of about 7,000 from the United States and 5,000 from other NATO members as well as Georgia. The number does not include US counter-terrorism forces. NATO wants to raise about 3 billion euros to help pay for Afghan forces after 2018. The Afghan security forces budget is funded by the US and NATO allies and is already set up to the end of 2017. In accordance with an agreement reached in 2012, NATO allies and partners give $1 billion a year to fund the Afghan security forces. The United States contributes a further $4.1 billion annually. The US has already spent about $65 billion training and preparing Afghan security forces and Afhganistan has received a further $100 billion in aid from international donors. As shown on the appended video, Russia provides some help to Afghanistan's security forces as well.

Three US contractors killed in Afghan insider attack

Kabul - An Afghan air force official said that three American contractors were killed in an apparent attack by an insider in the Afghan capital Kabul. The international force in Afghanistan confirmed the shooting that took place on Thursday morning.

The anonymous Afghan air force official said: "It is unclear yet why he shot these advisers and no one else was there to tell us the reason. An investigation has been opened." The attack victims were employed to help train Afghan air force personnel under a contract with the US Defense Department. The Afghan portion of operation Enduring Freedom ended at the end of 2014 and also the NATO International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). However, under a Status of Forces agreement signed last September by President Ghani along with a Bilateral Security Agreement with the US approximately 12,000 NATO troops will remain in Afghanistan, with about10,600 being Americans.

The new operation is called Resolute Support. While the main mission will be to train and support Afghan troops and security force there will also be a counter-insurgency operation as set out in the Bilateral Security Agreement: The Parties acknowledge that U.S. military operations to defeat al Qaida and its affiliates may be appropriate in the common fight against terrorism. Some reports such as here and here do not mention the fact that there will still be combat missions as part of the Global War on Terror or Overseas Contingency Operations as the new politically correct naming protocol would have it. There will also be numerous private contractors at work in Afghanistan as well.

 A Wikipedia article lists deaths of private contractors by the year and incidents in Afghanistan up to December 2014. There are 218 foreign private contractor deaths listed. 49 of those were private military contractors. The largest number, 65, were Americans, with the next largest being 19 from Nepal. There were 16 from the UK and even 13 Canadians and the same number from the Philippines. These are only a small number of the total which is estimated at 1481 as of December 31, 2013. The Taliban have launched a number of violent attacks of late even though the winter usually sees a definite decline in fighting. On Thursday an attack on a funeral in Laghman province killed 16 including four police and twelve civilians. On Wednesday another eleven policemen were killed and others wounded in an attack on a checkpoint in Ghazni province.