Military chiefs in Afghanistan have been sending requests to the leaders of NATO for more troops. This subject will be on the priority list at the NATO summit in Brussels on May 25. NATO’s official combat involvement ended in 2014, but since then, the Taliban has increased their fighting. As a result, many more civilians and Afghan troops have been killed. The casualty rate has already increased by about 35% from 2016. There are currently 13,450 NATO troops still in Afghanistan training the Afghan army and security forces. Of these 13,450 troops, 6,900 of them are from the U.S. There are also an additional 1,500 U.S. troops that are assisting with the situation as needed. Britain currently has 500 troops in the country and was the main country asked to send more troops by the military chiefs. Jordyn Haessler, senior, said, “If people within NATO believe there needs to be more troops in Afghanistan, I think other members should send troops to the front lines rather than rely on just the U.S.”
The U.S., acting on its own, is considering sending between 3,000 and 5,000 more troops to the field. This number would also include special forces. Much of this is because of the U.S. military’s belief that the Afghan forces simply cannot handle the situation alone, as they are ill-equipped and stretched thin. Reports say that President Trump will receive multiple proposals on how to approach the situation this week. NATO is also under pressure from the UN after having released statistics saying that 583,000 people had to flee their homes in 2016. This is the highest number since the conflict started in 2008. Cam Peer, senior, said, “It’s hard to tell what to do. If we get more involved, it means more money towards war and more American lives at risk, but at the same time, there are people in need of help from the conflict.”