America's top military officer arrives in Afghanistan as US weighs strategy shift

(CNN) - The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, US Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, arrived in Afghanistan Monday, a visit that comes as the Trump administration is deciding on a strategy to break what it sees as a stalemate in the 16-year-old war in the country.

Dunford was scheduled to meet with coalition leaders and forces as well as Afghan officials, according to his spokesman US Navy Capt. Greg Hicks.

His trip also comes as the US is deciding whether to deploy thousands more troops to help bolster local forces as they battle the Taliban and ISIS' local branch.

While Secretary of Defense James Mattis told Congress earlier this month that a new strategy for Afghanistan and the wider region, to include Pakistan, should be formulated by "mid-July," President Donald Trump has already given Mattis the authority to make decisions about how many US troops are deployed to Afghanistan without first having to get formal agreement from the White House.

The Pentagon and White House have been reviewing an option to send 3,000 to 5,000 additional US troops to help train and advise Afghan forces. - Read More

America's top military officer arrives in Afghanistan as US weighs ...