US Troops to Remain in Afghanistan at Least for Months: Rumsfeld

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, January 25, 2002

US Troops to Remain in Afghanistan at Least for Months: Rumsfeld

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Thursday that U.S. ground troops will stay in Afghanistan at least for several months or more in a bid to fulfill the remaining combat objectives.

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U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Thursday that U.S. ground troops will stay in Afghanistan at least for several months or more in a bid to fulfill the remaining combat objectives.

He said U.S. troops will remain because they have to hunt down pockets of Taliban and al Qaeda fighters, including Osama bin Laden, quell any resistance from them, and help Afghanistan's interim government transit to a permanent one.

"How long it will be, I just don't know. You can be sure we're not going to stay there a second longer than we have to, but we also feel an obligation to be a responsible nation and participate in this process and help them navigate through what has to be an enormously difficult thing to do," Rumsfeld said at a regular briefing.

Addressing the same briefing, Richard Myers, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, confirmed that U.S. troops on Wednesday conducted a raid against Taliban leadership in the mountain regionnorth of Kandahar.

According to Myers, the U.S. forces attacked two compounds and detained 27 individuals. One U.S. Special Forces soldier was slightly injured in the action but has been evacuated.

He said that U.S. troops still have their eyes on the targets in the area and may take further actions.

Myers said the total number of detainees under U.S. control nowstands at 455, 297 of which are in Afghanistan and 158 detainees in Cuba. The number includes the 27 detained in the raid on Wednesday, he added.

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