Change of US Command Set in Afghanistan

If confirmed by the Senate, General Nicholson would replace Maj. Gen. John F. Campbell, who has held the position since 2014. It was not clear what General Campbell would do next.

The Taliban now control significant parts of Afghanistan, and American Special Operations forces and Afghan troops have been battling the group’s fighters in the southern part of the country. Those developments are a sign of how the conflict has continued even after Obama announced the end of the United States’ combat mission in Afghanistan in late 2014.

In October, Obama announced that he had slowed the withdrawal of American troops from the country. At the time, the president said that the United States would keep 9,800 troops there through most of 2016. That number is set to fall to about 5,500 at the end of this year or in early 2017. The United States has had forces in Afghanistan since it invaded the country in 2001.

General Nicholson is currently the commander of NATO’s allied land command. Before holding that position, he was the head of the 82nd Airborne Division. In Afghanistan, where he has spent three and a half years, he has been the chief of staff of operations for the allied forces and a deputy commander for the southern part of the country.

“The good news is that we have a deep bench,” Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter said in a statement, the New York Times reported.

He said that General Nicholson “knows what it means to lead a responsive and nimble force, and how to build the capacity of our partners to respond to immediate and long-term threats and remain adaptable to confront evolving challenges. And he understands the importance and complexity of our mission in Afghanistan.”