US President Barack Obama plans to remove all American
combat troops in Afghanistan
by the end of 2016, a senior administration official said on Tuesday, drawing
to an end more than a decade of American military engagement in the country
following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. According to the plan,
Obama said that 9,800 troops will remain in Afghanistan through the end of
2014, and reduce that number by roughly half in 2015.