Barack Obama had originally planned to pull out all but a small, embassy-based US military presence by the end of next year, a timeline coinciding with the final weeks of his presidency.
Reversing its policy on Afghanistan, US President Barak Obama on Thursday said he would prolong the 14-year-old U.S. military engagement there.
Obama had aimed to withdraw all but a small U.S.-embassy based force at Kabul before he left office, but under the new plan, troops will be drawn down to 5,500 starting sometime in 2017 and based at four locations – Kabul, Bagram, Jalalabad and Kandahar.
The US President has been under pressure from his military advisers, the Republicans, and a bipartisan group of national security experts to keep U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
The Afghan forces have struggled to deal with the Taliban which briefly took control of Kunduz.
The U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan ended its combat mission at the end of 2014, and has since been helping Afghan troops who are in charge of the country’s security.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has been more supportive of the U.S. presence than his predecessor, Hamid Karzai, who left office last year.
He said Obama’s decision would help his government fight “a ruthless and cunning enemy.”