US preps plan for smaller presence in Afghanistan

The newspaper said the plans now prepared by the Pentagon call for leaving roughly 3,000, 6,000 or 9,000 U.S. troops in the country.

Those troops would launch strikes against militants and continue training the Afghan army and police, who will be responsible for national security more than a decade after a U.S.-led alliance ousted the Taliban regime in 2001.

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has said the slimmed-down force would focus on preventing al-Qaida, which was sheltered by the 1996-2001 Taliban government, from regaining a foothold in the war-shattered nation.

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