Associated Press
- US and Afghan officials are now estimating that the number of Taliban operating in Afghanistan is now a minimum of 60,000.
- The Taliban was estimated to be only 20,000 strong as little as four years ago.
- The increased number is a troubling development for the US and Afghanistan after over a decade of war.
NBC News reports that US and Afghan officials estimate the Taliban’s strength in Afghanistan to be a minimum of 60,000 fighters. This updated figure is significant, because as the report notes, for years the only previous estimate was approximately 20,000:
In 2014, US officials told NBC News that the number of Taliban fighters in Afghanistan was about 20,000. Four years later, one US defense official said the current Taliban strength is at least 60,000. Another senior U.S. official said 60,000 “passes the sniff test,” while a third official said 60,000 is “a place to start.”See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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