WASHINGTON: The commander of US forces in Afghanistan has said he may ask President Barack Obama to send more American troops to help the beleaguered Afghan forces.

In a separate statement, a US State Department official said the United States would not support lifting sanctions imposed on the Taliban until they showed their sincerity to the Afghan reconciliation process.

“My intent would be to keep as much as I could, for as long as I could,” Gen John Campbell told the USA Today newspaper. In the interview he also said he would visit Washington soon to brief security chiefs about his proposals.

“Some of them will not go over well with people,” he said. “Some of them will get approved.”

The general said that as commander of the US and Nato troops in Afghanistan, his job was to “continually make assessments” of the situation on the ground and send his findings to Washington.

“Every time I’ve gone to the president and said, ‘I need X,’ I’ve been very, very fortunate that he’s provided that. He has been very flexible.”

He said that maintaining the current force of 9,800 US troops in Afghanistan was vital to train Afghan forces and to conduct counter-terrorism operations. The scheduled reduction to 5,500 troops by Jan 1, 2017 should be put-off for as long as possible.

Gen Campbell said he would not only request maintaining the current force but would not hesitate to ask for more troops if necessary.

In recent congressional hearings, US diplomats and military officials have acknowledged that the security situation in Afghanistan had deteriorated, with an increase in militant attacks and higher casualties among both Taliban and Afghan forces.

During a briefing at the State Department, spokesman Mark Toner welcomed reports that Afghan officials and Taliban militants would hold the second round of reconciliation talks next week. The first round was held in Murree this summer.

Officials of the United States, Pakistan and China will attend the talks as observers.

“The United States clearly continues to support an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process as the surest way to end the ongoing violence and ensure lasting stability in Afghanistan and the region,” he said.

“We welcome talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban.”

When asked to comment on a Russian proposal to withdraw some UN sanctions imposed on the Taliban to encourage the talks, the US official said: “Until such time as the Taliban demonstrate a serious commitment to the reconciliation process, we’re going to continue to support international sanctions against them.”

Mr Toner added: “We’re not going to just lift sanctions based on a good, constructive first meeting … we would need to see positive steps taken by the Taliban that show they’re serious about peace.”

Published in Dawn, December 31st, 2015