REPORT: AFGHANISTAN TO GET MORE U.S. TROOPS

Fight against Taliban viewed as a stalemate as warm weather hits

The Pentagon will send nearly 4,000 additional troops to Afghanistan in an effort to turn around a war that commanders have described as a stalemate, The Associated Press reported Thursday.

Earlier this week, President Trump provided his defense secretary, Jim Mattis, with the authority to determine troop levels in Afghanistan.

The AP cited a Trump administration source who was not authorized to discuss the decision publicly and said the decision could be announced as early as next week.

A Pentagon spokesman, Christopher Sherwood, said no decision has been made yet.

A U.S. official who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to discuss the issue publicly said the Pentagon is still considering between 3,000 and 5,000 U.S. troops.

The question of sending additional troops is considered urgent in order to halt recent Taliban advances as another fighting season gets underway. The Taliban generally steps up violence in the warm months, when snows melt and roads become passable.

The top commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John Nicholson, has said a few thousand additional troops would be required to turn the tide on militants.

“We are not winning in Afghanistan right now,” Mattis told Congress this week.

There are about 8,400 U.S. troops in Afghanistan now in addition to several thousand troops from allied countries.