Pentagon Will Leave Large Number of Troops in Afghanistan to Protect US Embassy, Airport

The U.S. will leave a number of troops that is much larger than a typical security detail to guard its embassy in Kabul, along with American forces at the Kabul airport to help protect the vital facility for a time, the Pentagon confirmed Tuesday. 

"Afghanistan is not going to be treated like any other nation where we have a Marine security guard. I mean, it's Afghanistan, and we understand the dynamic nature of the security threat there," Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told reporters during a briefing Tuesday.  Kirby added that the U.S. was "still working out some of the details of what the security situation is going to look like at the airport."   "As you and I speak, there are U.S. troops at the airport. What the future of that looks like, we just don't know right now," he said.