Ghani praises Obama’s decision to slow pace of US troop withdrawal

President Ashraf Ghani has welcomed President Barack Obama’s recent decision to keep around 5,500 troop in Afghanistan beyond 2016.

Ghani noted that beside supporting and equipping Afghan soldiers, these forces will help Afghan forces to combat against terrorism in Afghanistan.

The troops will train and advise Afghan military forces and carry out counterterrorism strikes against remnants of al Qaeda and other Islamic extremist forces that have gained a toehold in the country.

He emphasized that the United States is said to consider a stable Afghanistan beneficial for the world and Washington.

President Barack Obama announced Thursday that he would not withdraw American troops in Afghanistan as previously planned, and will instead leave about 9,800 soldiers there through most of 2016. “Afghan forces are still not as strong as they need to be,” he said.

Obama added that the plan stipulates that 5,500 troops will remain at bases in Kabul, Bagram, Jalalabad and Kandahar into 2017, and that their training and counterterrorism missions “will not change”.

President Obama’s original plan was to leave all but a small group of troops to protect the American Embassy in Kabul after he leaves office. Combat operations were formally ended in December 2014.

But he has twice altered that withdrawal timeline in the face of persistent Taliban attacks.

President Ghani said that Afghan troops had made remarkable strides in recent years. But he noted that the U.S. and European troops have better training, superior weapons and the backing of attack planes and helicopters that can race to their aid.

“The success has to be judged comparatively,” he said in an interview. “Not a single province has fallen; not a single battalion has deserted; not a single army corps has refused to fight. They secured the election; they have borne the casualties, and they’ve moved from defensive to offensive.”

Both Obama and Ghani stressed that an end to the war in Afghanistan could only come through a political deal with the Taliban. In recent years, talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government have shown few signs of progress. Since taking over as president, Ghani has sought to smooth relations with Pakistan, whose support would be critical to any long-term peace deal.

Meanwhile, a number of Afghan analysts say that with renewing US military mission in Afghanistan, from now on US forces must target terrorist havens in Pakistan.

This comes as President Obama will meet Pakistani Prime Minister in the White House to talk over eliminating terrorist havens of Taliban in Pakistan.