US to keep 1,000 more troops than planned in Afghanistan

The U.S. will keep as many as a 1,000 extra troops in Afghanistan early next year, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Saturday. 

{mosads}Speaking in Kabul, Hagel said as many as 10,800 troops would be in Afghanistan for the first part of 2015, according to the Associated Press.

The U.S. had planned to reduce its presence to around 9,800 troops by year’s end, and still hopes to cut back to 5,500 troops by the end of 2015.

Hagel, speaking at a joint news conference with President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan, said the reason for the extra troops was that U.S. allies had been slower to help out with a planned NATO mission next year than originally thought. The defense secretary insisted that troops weren’t staying longer because of a recent increase in Taliban attacks.

The president, Hagel said “has provided U.S. military commanders the flexibility to manage any temporary force shortfall that we might experience for a few months as we allow for coalition troops to arrive in theater.

“But the president’s authorization will not change our troops’ missions, or the long-term timeline for our drawdown,” the defense secretary added.

Hagel’s trip is being billed as his last to Afghanistan as the head of the Pentagon. On Friday, Obama nominated Ashton Carter, a former deputy defense secretary, to replace Hagel.

Hagel announced last month that he would step down, under some pressure from the White House, but will stay on until his replacement is confirmed. Carter’s confirmation process will rev up when Congress returns, and the GOP officially takes over the Senate, in January.