The U.S. military has pulled about 2,000 troops from Afghanistan over the past year, the top U.S. and coalition military commander said Monday.
“As we work in Afghanistan with our partners, we’re always looking to optimize the force,” Army Gen. Austin Miller said at a news conference in Kabul. “Unbeknownst to the public, as part of our optimization … we reduced our authorized strength by 2,000 here.”
“I’m confident that we have the right capabilities to: 1. Reach our objectives as well as continue train, advise, and assist throughout the country,” Miller continued.
The New York Times was first to report that the U.S. military had reduced its troop strength in Afghanistan even though peace talks with the Taliban are on hiatus. The number of troops in the country has gone from about 15,000 to 13,000, a U.S. official told Task & Purpose on condition of anonymity.
Separately, the U.S. military is considering drawing down further to 8,600 troops in Afghanistan as part of a broader political agreement, Defense Secretary Mark Esper told reporters on Oct. 19.
“We’ve always said, that it’ll be conditions based, but we’re confident that we can go down to 8,600 without affecting our operations, if you will,” Esper said while enroute to Afghanistan.
So far, no order has been given to draw down to 8,600 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, the U.S. official said.
After President Donald Trump cancelled peace talks with the Taliban, which had been expected to take place at Camp David around the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, the U.S. military has increased both air and ground attacks.
In September, U.S. military aircraft dropped more ordnance in Afghanistan than they have since October 2010, according to Air Force statistics.
However, the president has also repeatedly vowed to bring U.S. troops home from the post 9/11 wars. Most recently, he approved withdrawing most U.S. troops from Syria.
On Monday, Esper said the situations in Syria and Afghanistan are very different, so the Afghans and other U.S. allies “should not misinterpret our actions in the recent week or so with regard to Syria.”