Taliban should know that US is not going anywhere: Tillerson
Troops deployment will be made on the recommendations of leadership, says Tillerson.
WASHINGTON (AFP) - US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has reiterated that operations in Afghanistan will be carried out while considering the conditions on the ground.
“The recently announced policy was a dramatic shift from a time-based military strategy to a conditions-based strategy which means it will be dictated by conditions on the ground informed by battlefield commanders,” he said during an interview with Fox News.
Tillerson notified that Trump made it evident in his speech that no time frame will be provided for Afghanistan strategy.
Commenting on the deployment of US troops in Afghanistan, he said that the decision will be made on the recommendations of leadership in that country.
“Trump has delegated significant authority to Defence Secretary (James) Mattis to set troop levels, but also has been able to delegate for the military commanders in the field, decision-making, to begin to turn the tide against the Taliban,” he said.
“Now, all of this is directed at sending a message to the Taliban that we are not going anywhere. We’re going to be here,” Tillerson said.
“As we all know, the attack of 9/11 was organised and carried out from Afghanistan. So, in Afghanistan, we have to secure Afghanistan in a way that that can never occur again because there’s no territory available to organisations to do so,” he said.
