The United States is planning to increase the number of its Army Special Forces in Afghanistan, despite an earlier announcement by Washington and NATO that they would hand over security to Afghan forces in 2014, a report says.
The report published in the New York Times cited Pentagon officials, whose names it did not reveal, as saying that the elite commando teams within the US Special Operations Forces will remain in the Asian country. The plan may even demand the deployment of more elite forces to Afghanistan.
According to the plan, American forces would not patrol Afghan towns and villages vulnerable to militant attacks and local Afghan forces would instead assume such security responsibilities.
US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta claimed on Wednesday that the US will end its combat mission in Afghanistan next year and will perform a training role in Afghanistan in line with the planned NATO withdrawal.
Meanwhile, a recent NATO report leaked to the media suggesting that Afghan militants are confident they can defeat the coalition.
The US invaded Afghanistan in 2001 under the pretext of dismantling the al-Qaeda militants, toppling the Taliban regime, democratizing the country and restoring security to the nation. However, a decade after the invasion, security situation remains fragile in Afghanistan despite the presence of around 150,000 US-led foreign forces in the Asian country.
Civilian casualties caused by US-led military operations have triggered deep anger among Afghans, prompting demonstrations throughout the country.
The United States and the NATO leaders have set 2014 as the date to hand over security to local authorities in Afghanistan.
AO/MA/HJL