U.S. troops in afghanistan will have to battle a growing number of ISIS fighters in Afghanistan as Taliban groups in the country are joining the Islamic terror group. According to military sources, a surge of new ISIS recruits from Afghan towns is a cause of concern for U.S. forces stationed in the battle-torn country.
How will Taliban-ISIS cooperation affect U.S. policy in Afghanistan?
Early Saturday, three U.S. soldiers were killed when Taliban fighters infiltrated the security force while conducting a routine patrol in Afghanistan. The attack was claimed by the Taliban, which is reportedly joining up with the ISIS terror group that are slowly being driven out of Syria and Iraq.
Former Pentagon official Michael Maloof said to RT that these kinds of attacks will continually pester U.S. forces currently in Afghanistan unless things change.
At the moment, U.S. President Donald Trump ponders on whether to send more troops to Afghanistan or not. This is after Obama pulled U.S. troops out of the country after more than a decade of war and 6,927 dead American soldiers. Despite this, many in the Trump administration are clamoring for a more aggressive policy in Afghanistan to finally destroy terror strongholds in the country.
How will the United States cope with a long war without any sure end in sight?
Maloof said that during Obama's term, the U.S. Military lost focus on Afghanistan.
After more than 100,000 American soldiers were pulled out from the country, the Taliban was inadvertently "allowed" to regain power in the country. He argued that if the United States completely left Afghanistan, the Taliban can easily take over the country in a matter of days.
Because of this fact, Trump has a major decision to make in order to save the dire situation in Afghanistan.
Military intelligence showed evidence that Taliban fighters are embracing ISIS soldiers coming from Pakistan, Syria and Iraq. Allowing ISIS to have another country to take over is not a situation that the United States will allow. This is why many are hoping that Trump signs the order to send additional 3,000 - 8,000 troops into Afghanistan.
Defeating ISIS is one of the major promises Trump made during his campaign.
In line with this policy, Trump had made Saudi Arabia and UAE strong allies that will help stop the spread of ISIS ideology to these ultraconservative Islamic countries. American presence in the Middle East is now much stronger than ever after Trump had created a coalition that will fight ISIS and Iran.