US has no plans to review its strategy on Afghanistan — White House

World July 11, 2018, 4:48

The US military forces have been stationed in Afghanistan since October 2001, which has cost US taxpayers more than $680 billion

WASHINGTON, July 11. /TASS/. The US administration has no plans to overhaul key elements of its military and political strategy of normalizing situation in Afghanistan, a National Security Council spokesperson told TASS, commenting on a report by Reuters about the possible review.

"We are not planning an overarching review of our core strategy, like the one conducted last summer," the official said, referring to the latest US strategy on Afghanistan, released last August. Despite measures being taken to put it into practice, the situation in the Central Asian state de-facto remains in deadlock.

"We regularly conduct reviews of our strategies examining their effectiveness and making necessary adjustments to ensure U.S. resources are being used in the most efficient ways possible," the source added.

According to the spokesperson, US "allies and partners have made significant increases in contributions" to the operation in Afghanistan over the past year.

"Two new operational partners joined NATO's mission [in Afghanistan]," the source said. "That said, we expect Allies and partners to carry their fair share of the burden in Afghanistan by continuing to increase troop and financial contributions."

"The international community remains committed to supporting the Afghan forces as they work towards an Afghan-owned, Afghan-led solution to the conflict," the spokesperson continued. "The Administration remains committed to a conditions-based strategy. The Taliban cannot wait us out. We were encouraged by the June ceasefire, and we stand by the Afghan government as it seeks a political settlement to ending the war."

The US military forces have been stationed in Afghanistan since October 2001, which has cost US taxpayers more than $680 billion. The operation left about 2,350 US servicemen killed and more than 20,000 wounded. The operation in Afghanistan has become the longest ever military conflict in which the United States has taken part.

Read more on the site →