Barack Obama plans to extend the US military's role in Afghanistan and keep the current force of 9,800 troops through most of 2016, Al Jazeera has learned.
Obama had aimed to withdraw all but a small US embassy-based force in the capital Kabul before leaving office in January 2017. Under the new plan, troops will withdraw to 5,500 starting sometime in 2017, and be based in Kabul, Bagram, Jalalabad and Kandahar.
The decision comes after months of deliberations between Obama, Afghan leaders, Pentagon officials, commanders in the field and White House advisers about how best to continue to support Afghan forces, senior US administration officials said.


Late last month, Taliban fighters briefly took over the northern city of Kunduz before it was driven out from the strategic city by Afghan forces, backed by US air strikes.
The fall of Kunduz dealt a major blow to the country's NATO-trained security forces and highlighted the insurgency's potential to expand beyond its rural stronghold.
Source: AlJazeera and agencies