The Pentagon on Tuesday maintained that its strategy in Afghanistan is working, even as American troops remain engaged in a firefight that’s already killed one service member.
The attacks in Marjah, Afghanistan, killed one U.S. special operator and wounded two others. Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook could not provide any information on the status of their injuries, or if those who were wounded and killed had been evacuated from the area.
Despite that, Cook maintained that the U.S. strategy to prepare Afghans to take the lead is working.
“There’s no change right now,” Cook said. “We believe we’re on the right course.”
The U.S. combat mission in Afghanistan officially ended 2014, but about 10,000 Americans are in the country now and will remain there through most of 2016 under a revised drawdown plan announced by President Obama last year. Before the end of this year, the U.S. presence is set to shrink to about 5,500 troops.
A recent resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan has lead to an uptick in violence, including a two-week battle to retake Kunduz after it fell into terrorist hands last fall. The Taliban now has at least a significant presence in about 30 percent of districts across Afghanistan, holding more territory now than in any year since 2001, according to some reports.
Details on Tuesday’s attack are limited since American troops may still be involved in the firefight, Cook said.
“There is fighting on the ground as we speak,” he told reporters at the Pentagon Tuesday afternoon.
Yet when asked repeatedly if these U.S. forces were in combat, Cook simply said that Afghanistan is a dangerous place.
“These people are in harm’s way, there’s no doubt about it,” he said.
A group of U.S. special operators was conducting a train, advise and assist mission with Afghan special operators when a firefight broke out. Two helicopters were called in for assistance. One was waved off before it reached the site of the attack, while the other struck a wall, breaking its rotor. That downed helo is still on the ground unable to take off, Cook said.
The killed special operator is the seventh U.S. service member to die in Afghanistan in just two weeks. Six airmen were killed by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan on Dec. 21.
