US troops move to Helmand

Kabul, Feb. 9: Hundreds more US troops are headed for Afghanistan’s strifetorn Helmand province to shore up security forces who have struggled in the face of sustained Taliban attacks, officials said.

The core of the new force will provide more security and act as advisers to the Afghan Army’s 215th Corps, US Army spokesman Col. Michael Lawhorn said.

Security forces in the southern province have been plagued by high desertion and casualty rates, corruption, and leadership problems, and the army corps recently saw more than 90 general officers replaced in a major shakeup.

“This was a planned deployment of additional personnel to both bolster force protection for the current staff of advisers and to provide additional advisers to help with ongoing efforts to re- man, re- equip, and re- train the 215th Corps,” he said.

Officials have previously said the new troops would number roughly 200, but Col. Lawhorn declined to publicise exact numbers, saying the reinforcements would be “significant”.

The Nato- led coalition in Afghanistan declared its combat mission over at the end of 2014, and Col. Lawhorn said the new troops in Helmand would be there “to train, advise, and assist our Afghan counterparts, and not to participate in combat operations”. Regular military advising is largely limited to the corps level and above, but coalition special operation advisers are still embedding at the tactical level.