US to see offensive operations against Taliban in Afghanistan: head of U.S. Central Command

Almaty. January 3. Silkroadnews - The US intends to focus on offensive operations conducted by local forces in Afghanistan, the Afghan Telegraph Agency (AfTAG) reports referring to interview of General Joseph L. Votel, Commander United States Central Command (US CENTCOM), The Associated Press released on Tuesday.
According to the commander, Washington wants to concentrate on offensive operations against extremists. “… we’ll look for a major effort to gain the initiative very quickly as we enter into the fighting season… we must keep the pressure on all the time and work to gain the upper hand as quickly as we can, so that as we get into this next fighting season we can build on the initiative,” TASS quoted him saying.
Votel added, this would be achieved by deploying more American trainers acting as advisers for the Afghan army and locating close to the front lines to escalate the offensive.
The general assured that now the coalition is working hard to strengthen the combat effectiveness of the Afghan air force, while also engaging in the training of ground troops. “keep the pressure on all the time and work to gain the upper hand as quickly as we can, so that as we get into this next fighting season we can build on the initiative,” the commander believes.