Role of U.S. troops in Afghanistan to shift to training: White House

Reuters
U.S. Marines are seen on board a helicopter at Kandahar air base upon the end of operations for the Marines and British combat troops in Helmand October 27, 2014. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The role of U.S. troops in Afghanistan will shift in 2015 to training Afghan security forces and counter-terrorism activities, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on Monday. Earnest said the new role doesn't represent an expansion and that there would be 10,000 boots on the ground if Afghanistan by the end of this year and the military would be back into an embassy protection role by the end of 2016. (Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Susan Heavey)