Afghan president warns of IS threat to security transition

Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani speaks before a joint meeting of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 25, 2015. [Photo/IC]

Given the deficiencies in the Afghan security forces which now stood at about 330,000, a fragile new government which failed to form a full-member cabinet six months into formation, and fear that IS would gain a foothold in Afghanistan, US President Barack Obama announced Tuesday that no reduction of U.S. troops in Afghanistan would occur this year.

Obama had previously planed to reduce the current level of 9, 800 US troops in Afghanistan to around 5,500 by the end of 2015 and withdraw all troops by the end of 2016 when Obama's presidency comes to an end.

Meanwhile, Obama said drawdown timeline through 2016 would be decided later this year.

"The specific trajectory of the 2016 drawdown will be established later this year to enable our final consolidation to a Kabul-based embassy presence by the end of 2016," said Obama.

The White House spokesman Josh Earnest on Monday left open the possibility of leaving about 1,000 to 1,500 troops in Afghanistan for protection purpose.

"The President does envision a scenario where the US military presence in Afghanistan by early 2017 reflects the need to protect the substantial diplomatic presence that the United States will maintain in Afghanistan," Earnest told reporters in the daily briefing.