Top US general says over 1,000 troops may leave Afghanistan

General Joseph Votel, the head of the US military’s Central Command, told Reuters that the decision to reduce some of the roughly 14,000 American forces in Afghanistan was not linked to peace efforts.
According to the official, the decision was part of an effort by top US commander in Afghanistan, General Scott Miller, to make better use of US resources.
“This is something that he started as he got into the position here and was looking at how we (can) be as efficient and as effective as we can be on the ground,” Votel said.
This comes as US President Donald Trump has repeatedly called for ending his country’s war in Afghanistan which has been America’s longest war.
US peace envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad, has held at least four rounds of peace talks with the Taliban. The sides have agreed to the framework of a peace deal including the Taliban’s guarantee not to allow terrorists to use Afghanistan and withdrawal of US troops.
This month, Trump said that he intends to reduce US forces from Afghanistan as negotiators make progress in talks with Taliban insurgents, saying “Great nations do not fight endless wars.”
Votel said: “We don’t want to fight endless wars either. We want to accomplish the mission here.”
“I think the strategy that the president has allowed to get put in place here, the South Asia strategy, focused on reconciliation, has been a good one,” he said.