Additional 100 US Marines headed to Afghan province to help fight Taliban - Pentagon

WASHINGTON - 9 August 2017: US defense officials said on Tuesday about 100 more Marines will be sent to the troubled Helmand Province in Afghanistan to help the 300 Americans who are already there advising and assisting Afghan security forces.

According to ABC News, the officials said the decision to send these Marines to help Afghan forces in their fight against the Taliban is not related to the potentially larger deployment of forces the Trump administration is currently considering.

Gen. Joseph Votel, the commander of U.S Central Command, approved the movement of the additional Marines to Helmand Province to provide protection for Task Force Southwest, one of the officials said.

Task Force Southwest is the contingent of 300 Marines assisting and advising Afghan forces in Helmand Province.

The request for the additional Marines was made by Brig. Gen. Roger Turner, the top Marine commander in Helmand Province, said another defense official.

There are currently about 8,400 US troops in Afghanistan advising and assisting the Afghan security forces fighting the Taliban.

About 2,000 of those troops are involved in a counter-terrorism fight against an Daesh affiliate in Afghanistan and al-Qaeda.

Earlier this summer, US officials said Defense Secretary Jim Mattis was considering ordering an additional 4,000 US troops to Afghanistan, but any future deployments are currently on hold as the Trump administration debates a future strategy.

In late April, 300 Marines arrived in Helmand Province to replace a similar-sized force of US Army troops that had been advising and assisting Afghan forces.