Afghanistan Times
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AT Monitoring Desk-KABUL: The US Defense Secretary, James N. Mattis has said that Trump administration would review its war strategy against terrorism in Afghanistan, after holding discussion with the Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and the US army commander, General John Nicholson.
He added that Trump administration would consider fundamental changes in policy after assessment of the situations in Afghanistan to be completed by the US Defense Ministry and intelligence community.
“He’s waiting for my assessment and the assessment from the intelligence community and he’s open to my advice on it,” Mattis was quoted as saying by Reuters. He furthered, “But first of all I’ve got to formulate where I stand.”
Recognizing sacrifices of the Afghan security forces rendered in the war against terrorism, he expressed concerns over the casualties of Afghan security forces at the line of duty.
“The Afghan security forces paid a very heavy price to keep the Taliban on their back foot. But they paid it, they held,” he added
He also added “And the Taliban’s in a worse position today, even though I do not equate that to success on our side.”
This comes after Gen. Nicholson’s remarks in US Senate Armed Services Committee where he demanded additional troops to be deployed in Afghanistan, aimed at training of the Afghan security forces and conducting counter terrorism operations. He also demanded to have a holistic review on US policy towards Islamabad.
