US ‘surge troops’ leave Afghanistan - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

Nearly two years after US President Barack Obama ordered 33,000 more US troops to Afghanistan to check Taliban violence, the last of those surge troops have left the country, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said. The withdrawal has left 68,000 American forces in the warzone as of date. According to Fox News, the move comes as security transition to Afghan forces is in trouble, threatened by a spike in so-called insider attacks, in which Afghan Army and police troops, or insurgents dressed in their uniforms, have been attacking and killing U.S. and NATO forces. The surge was aimed at beating back the Taliban to give the Afghan Government and its security forces the time and space to take hold in the country. The key goal was to ensure that the Taliban did not regain a foothold in the country that could once again allow it to become a safe haven for terror groups, the report added.