13,000 more US troops to Afghanistan

U.S. President Barack Obama is deploying 13,000 non-combat troops to Afghanistan, in a move demonstrating his change in concentration toward the country and away from the war in Iraq. The soldiers are mostly engineers, medical staff, intelligence officers and military police, with about 3,000 explosives specialists who are being deployed to lower fatalities from roadside bombs. They come in addition to the already announced 21,000-troop surge, and are part of U.S. commander General Stanley McChrystal’s campaign to win the hearts and minds of Afghans.

The Guardian