WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Approximately 11,000 US troops are currently stationed in Afghanistan, Defense Department Joint Staff Director Lt. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie said in a press briefing on Wednesday.
"Under the new, simplified accounting methodology the current total forces number in Afghanistan is approximately 11,000," McKenzie stated.
This new number does not include any future deployments that could be made in order to accomplish President Donald Trump's new strategy for southeast Asia, McKenzie explained.
In July of 2016, former President Barack Obama announced the United States would keep 8,400 US military personnel in Afghanistan until the end of his administration. That was the last time the US government officially announced the number of troops in Afghanistan.