‘A challenge’ for Afghan military as US leaves Afghanistan

US defence secretary says Afghan forces ‘will play major role in stopping the Taliban’ as group steps up attacks.

The current focus for US forces in Afghanistan and their NATO partners is the withdrawal of their troops, scheduled to be complete by September 11, then priority will shift to helping Afghan security forces from “over the horizon”, top US military officials said Thursday. “The Afghan security forces will play the major role in stopping the Taliban and I know we, what we’re seeing unfold is what we expected to unfold – increased pressure,” said US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. There have been about 80-100 Taliban attacks against Afghan troops every day for the past year, while there has been none against US forces, General Mark Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said alongside Austin at a Pentagon briefing.