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US Will Slow Troop Withdrawal from Afghanistan

CBN

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The United States will keep the current number of 9,800 troops in Afghanistan through the end of 2015, instead of cutting the number by about half as originally planned, the White House announced Tuesday.

The original plan was to cut troops to 5,500 by the end of this year.

The revised drawdown plan comes after the new president of Afghanistan visited the White House to talk about the future relationship between the United States and his country.

President Ashraf Ghani discussed keeping U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Currently, around 10,000 American service members are in the country.

In May of 2014, President Barack Obama promised to bring back all U.S. troops by 2016.

But Ghani is asking that the United States slow the pull-out because of deficiencies in Afghan security forces and the rise of Islamic State fighters looking to recruit in the country.

Defense officials say the Obama administration does intend to slow the withdrawal and allow most of the troops to remain though 2015.

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