Washington, Nov 22 (TruthDive): President Barack Obama, in recent weeks has approved Pentagon to target Afghanistan’s Taliban fighters. This plan will be a more expansive mission for the military in 2015 in Afghanistan than what was planned originally. This move ensures that US troops will have a direct role in fighting in the war-ravaged country for at least another year.
The decision of the president also allows the military to provide air support for the Afghan operations, when required, said the officials.
Several administrations, congressional and military officials having knowledge of the President’s decision said, the new orders given by Obama would permit the forces of America to carry out operations against Taliban and the other militants groups. Previous plans had restricted their role to train the Afghan troops and tackle the al-Qaeda remnants.
The US president has made the decision after having meetings at White House, with his top national security advisers in the recent weeks. The meeting was about the role of the US military in Afghanistan.
The new order of Obama approves the American air attacks under certain conditions that support the military operations of Afghan. Also, the order allows the ground troops to accompany occasionally, the Afghan troops on operations against the Taliban. A report said, the change was in part related to the rapid advance of jihadist Islamic State militants in Iraq.
Obama’s Afghanistan plan faces criticism after the advancement of the Islamic State forces in Syria and Iraq, while the new president of Afghanistan has been more accepting of a broader American military mission than his predecessor. President Ashraf Ghani was sworn in as the new president of Afghanistan in September, replacing Hamid Karzai in the country’s first democratic transfer of power.
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