President Trump to address troops Monday night on path forward in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON – President Trump will address military troops on Monday night to provide "an update" on path forward in Afghanistan and South Asia, the White House said in a statement Sunday.

President Trump.

The meeting, which will take place at 9 p.m. ET at Fort Myer in Arlington, Va., comes as Trump weighs a new strategy for the conflict in Afghanistan that could involve sending a few thousand more U.S. troops.

Trump held a conference on the subject with his national security team on Friday at Camp David.

The Camp David meeting included Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who has said the Trump administration is close to finalizing a strategy for Afghanistan.

Options on the table include proposals to send roughly 3,000 to 5,000 more U.S. troops to a conflict that stretches back to the 9/11 attacks in 2001. More than 2,400 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan.

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The top commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John Nicholson, has said several thousand additional troops are needed to help break the stalemate in the war against the Taliban, the Islamic State and other insurgent groups there.

Any additional U.S. and coalition troops would remain in a support role in Afghanistan, helping to advise Afghan forces, which have suffered high numbers of casualties in the fight against insurgents. The coalition is also providing limited air support for Afghan government forces.

Mattis said Sunday while en route to Amman, Jordan, that he is satisfied with how the administration formulated its new Afghanistan war strategy. But he refused to talk about the new policy until Trump discloses it.