U.S. intelligence chief warns of deteriorating security in Afghanistan

U.S. National Intelligence Director Dan Coats warned on Thursday that the security situation in Afghanistan would most likely deteriorate in the future even if the United States and its allies offer more military aid.

"The intelligence community assesses that the political and security situation in Afghanistan will almost certainly deteriorate through 2018 even with a modest increase in military assistance by the United States and its partners," he said at a Senate hearing on the U.S. global threats.

According to Coats, the Taliban is likely to continue to make gains especially in rural areas, while the Afghan government is undermined by the dire economic situation.

"Afghanistan will struggle to curb its dependence on external support until it contains the insurgency or reaches a peace agreement with the Taliban," he said.

As for the Afghan security forces which are fighting the Taliban, Coats said their performance would probably worsen due to a combination of Taliban operations, combat casualties, desertions, poor logistic support and weak leadership.

Coats' warning came as U.S. President Donald Trump was reportedly considering whether or not to send additional hundreds of U.S. troops to Afghanistan.

Former U.S. President Barack Obama had planned to reduce the current number of 9,800 U.S. troops in Afghanistan to some 5,500 by the end of 2015 and withdraw all troops by the end of 2016 when his presidency came to an end.

However, given the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan, the Obama administration repeatedly postponed the withdrawal.

Currently, there are about 8,400 U.S. troops and another 5,000 forces of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on the ground in Afghanistan to train and assist the Afghan forces against the Taliban, and conduct counter-terrorism missions. Endi