The United States is sending 3,000 troops to Afghanistan

Desk report: The United States has announced it will send 3,000 new troops to Afghanistan. The United States is sending a large number of troops at a time when the Taliban have seized at least 11 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces. The United States announced just hours after the Taliban seized the western city of Herat and the strategic city of Ghazni. The Taliban have been rapidly occupying parts of Afghanistan since last May. Last Thursday, they announced the capture of Kandahar, Afghanistan’s second largest city. However, the US State Department said on Thursday that the US embassy in Kabul would continue to operate. Many are surprised by the dramatic decision by the United States on Thursday, but Washington believes that the Afghan government can stop the Taliban’s advance. Afghanistan’s major cities are collapsing in the face of the Taliban’s advance. As a result, the capital Kabul is becoming increasingly isolated. Earlier, a US intelligence report said that Kabul would fall in just 90 days. The city will be torn apart in 30 days. “We are not abandoning them,” said Ned Price, a spokesman for the US State Department. We will not remove them again. It is not a complete withdrawal. Rather we will reduce the number of our civilians there. “This is a message for the Afghan people for our long-term partnership,” he said. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke by telephone with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Thursday. The United States has warned Taliban officials that Washington would retaliate if the Americans were attacked during a US military presence.