Milley: US may train Afghan forces
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said forces may continue training but would do so in other countries.
WASHINGTON — The U.S. military may continue to train Afghan security forces, but do it in other countries after American forces leave Afghanistan, the top U.S. military officer said Thursday, calling it one of several options the Pentagon is considering.
Speaking at a Pentagon news conference, Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, also said the U.S. has not settled on a plan yet to continue supporting the Afghan Air Force, which is heavily dependent on the U.S. for maintenance, training and repairs. He said some U.S. aid may have to be done from outside the country, but officials are also looking at whether some contracts may be turned over to Afghan control.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin acknowledged that continuing without U.S. support on the ground
“will be a challenge” for the Afghans as they try to hold off the Taliban. This was the first news conference the two have done together since the Biden administration took office Jan. 20.
President Joe Biden announced last month that all U.S. troops will withdraw from Afghanistan by Sept. 11. NATO allies have said they will do the same, and troops have already begun leaving.
Austin said the “drawdown is going according to plan.”
The Pentagon has said there were about 2,500 U.S. troops there in recent months, but Milley said the total rises to 3,300 if special operations forces are counted. Military commanders have also said that additional forces will flow in to help with security and logistics for the drawdown.
Pentagon officials have said they will do all they can to monitor terror threats and help the Afghans from other locations in the region, described as “over the horizon.”
Gen. Frank McKenzie, the top U.S. commander for the Middle East, has warned that Afghanistan’s military “will certainly collapse” without some continued U.S. support once troops are withdrawn. He has expressed concerns that Afghan forces may be unable to prevent the Taliban from taking more ground, and said the Afghans will need help and funding to maintain and fly their aircraft.