Taliban warns Afghanistan will become ‘a graveyard’ for the US after Trump clears the way for thousands more American troops to be sent to the war-torn country
Donald Trump backtracked on original promise to end the 16-year-long conflict
Trump said an unspecified number of troops would be deployed to ‘kill terrorists’
Taliban dismissed his remarks as ‘nothing new’ and accused him of ‘arrogance’
British Foreign Secretary Michael Fallon welcomed the president’s commitment
By JAY AKBAR
DAILYMAIL.COM
22 August 2017
The Taliban warned Afghanistan will become ‘a graveyard’ for the US after Donald Trump announced thousands more troops will be sent to the war-torn country.
The US President not only backtracked on his promise to end the nation’s 16-year-long campaign in Afghanistan, he criticized ally Pakistan for giving a safe haven to extremists.
While some world leaders and even ordinary Afghans welcome the move, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said they would ‘continue our jihad’ so long as the US ‘imposes war on us’.
He added: ‘If America doesn’t withdraw its troops from Afghanistan, soon it will become another graveyard for this superpower in the 21st century.’
After a strategy review finalized with top advisors at Camp David, Trump revealed what he called a ‘path forward’ and a ‘dramatically’ different approach.
He called for the use of overwhelming force, but made no specific mention of dispatching thousands of new American troops to boost the effort, saying levels would be based on conditions on the ground.
‘Our troops will fight to win. We will fight to win,’ the president told soldiers at Fort Myer outside Washington.
He added: ‘From now on, victory will have a clear definition: attacking our enemies. Obliterating ISIS. Crushing Al Qaeda.
‘Preventing the Taliban from taking over Afghanistan. And stopping mass terror attacks against America before they emerge.’
British Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said Trump’s commitment to Afghanistan was ‘very welcome’.
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