Night raids on Taliban may resume

Increased U.S. involvement might be a result of setbacks in Iraq, Syria.

kabul, afghanistan » President Ashraf Ghani has ordered a top-to-bottomreview of the operations of Afghanistan’s defense forces, including discussing the resumption of controversial night raids banned by his predecessor.

The move appears aimed at revamping the military for the fight against theTaliban amid new indications that U.S. and international forces will play a greater role than initially envisioned after the 13-year U.S.-led combat mission formally ends next month.

The wholesale review is underway, presidential spokesmanNafizullah Salarzai told The Associated Press, saying Ghani had instructed theNational Security Council to “work on a manual of guidelines and standards formilitary operations.”

Under new guidelines quietly approved by President Barack Obama, U.S. troops may once again engage Taliban fighters, not just al-Qaeda terrorists, U.S. administration officials confirmed last week. Until Obama broadened the guidelines, U.S. forceswere to have limited Afghanistan operations to counterterrorism missions against alQaeda after this year, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss Obama’s decisions by name.

The emerging rethink in Kabul and the U.S. appears linked, at least in part, to this year’s successes by jihadi radicals in Syria and especially Iraq — which have made the December 2011 pullout fromIraq seem less successful and forced a re-engagement there by the West.

Salarzai would not give precise details ofwhat military procedureswere under review, although he said the discussions include a possible lifting of the ban on night raids. First Deputy President Abdul Rashid Dostum said the raids might resume early next year.