WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Taliban insurgents will increasingly threaten Afghan stability after international forces withdraw in December, and Kabul will need more troops than currently envisioned to provide basic security, according to a new independent strategy review.
The assessment, conducted by the Centre for Naval Analyses and obtained by Reuters on Thursday, warned that plans to shrink the size of the Afghan National Security Force to 228,500 from the current 382,000 would put the U.S. policy of preventing the country from becoming a safe haven for extremists "at risk."