Speaking to reporters Thursday at the Pentagon, U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis says he has signed orders to deploy additional American troops to Afghanistan beyond the 11,000 currently serving in the war-torn country. These additional troops will mostly advise and ‘enable the Afghan forces to fight more effectively’ against the Taliban and more than a dozen terror groups in Afghanistan. News of the new deployment orders comes a day after the Pentagon announced that approximately 11,000 U.S. troops are currently serving in Afghanistan, not 8,400 troops, as the Defense Department had previously reported. Officials have suggested that Secretary Mattis is looking to deploy about 4,000 additional troops to Afghanistan to fulfill the commander’s needs on the ground.

U.S., South Korea hold talks to soothe North Korea tensions
After North Korea threatened to pull out of the high-level talks between Kim Jong Un and