奧巴馬批准美軍在阿富汗扮演新角色大綱
U.S. President Barack Obama has approved a wider role for the U.S. military in Afghanistan to help local forces combat the Taliban.
The new plan, which follows months of debate, will allow for increased airstrikes against the Taliban when necessary, and, more generally, give U.S. forces more flexibility in how they partner with Afghan forces. The plan does not involve U.S. ground troops.
The decision will once again redefine the U.S. military's role in Afghanistan more than a year after international combat troops finished their missions, leaving Afghan troops to fight the Taliban.
It also comes six months before the 9,800 U.S. troops in Afghanistan would be reduced to 5,500 - a move Obama has called to happen by 2017.
Afghanistan's fight against a resurgent Taliban has intensified in recent months. The U.N. says 3,545 Afghan citizens were killed and 7,457 were wounded in 2015 - most of them at the hands of the Taliban.美國總統奧巴馬批准美國軍隊在阿富汗發揮更大作用，幫助阿富汗軍隊打擊塔利班。
這項新計劃經過了好幾個月的辯論，內容包括在必要時增加對塔利班的空襲，同時美軍在決定如何同阿富汗軍隊合作時將擁有更大的靈活性。新計劃不涉及美軍地面部隊。
國際戰鬥部隊一年多以前撤離阿富汗後，阿富汗部隊孤軍奮戰，對抗塔利班，奧巴馬總統的這項決定將再次重新定義美軍在阿富汗的作用。
6個月後， 9800駐阿美軍將減少到5500人，這是奧巴馬在2017年前要完成的目標。
近幾個月來，阿富汗軍隊與塔利班的戰鬥加劇。聯合國說，2015年有3545個阿富汗平民被打死，7457個平民受傷，而其中大部分死傷都是塔利班造成的。
