Afghan surge likely to include thousands of paratroopers

A member of U.S. Special Operations forces climbs down from a compound wall during a joint patrol with Afghan National Army soldiers in Shewan, a former Taliban stronghold, in Afghanistan’s Farah province.

The bulk of the roughly 4,000 additional troops headed to Afghanistan will probably be composed of thousands of paratroopers from two units — the 82nd Airborne Division and an airborne brigade from the 25th Infantry Division, according to U.S. officials.

More air support — in the form of F-16 fighters, A-10 ground attack aircraft and B-52 bomber support, or a combination of all three - is also probably on the way, according to a U.S. official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss plans that had not yet been made public. The B-52s will remain based in Qatar but will be tasked to cover Afghanistan.

Small Marine artillery detachments, composed of about 100 or so troops per unit, will be spread around the country to fill in gaps in air support, the official said.

In President Donald Trump’s announcement of his new strategy for Afghanistan last week, his statement had little detail and did not mention troop numbers.

The Pentagon has yet to make any announcement about the coming deployments as the final orders have yet to be approved by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, the officials said. As the Pentagon delays signing off on the troop increase, the availability of certain units could change.

It is unclear why the Pentagon has delayed authorizing the additional troops even though Trump made his announcement.

The additional U.S. forces will allow Americans to advise Afghan troops in more locations and closer to the fighting, U.S. officials in Kabul said.