Explaining the Broader Role Approved by President Obama for the US Military in Afghanistan

— -- President Obama has approved broader authorities for the U.S. military in Afghanistan that will, on occasion, allow American forces to accompany conventional Afghan troops and possibly allow airstrikes in support of Afghan troops to help them seize a battlefield advantage, U.S. military officials announced late Thursday.

A senior Defense Department official said the move will allow the U.S. military to proactively help the Afghan military in its fight against a resurgent Taliban, but the official also said the new authorities are "not a blanket order to target the Taliban."

Instead, the broadened authorities will be used on a case-by-case basis where U.S. military commanders determine that accompanying Afghan ground troops and providing close air support will proactively help the Afghan military gain a strategic advantage against the resurgent Taliban, the official said.

The changes will go into effect as annual fighting season in Afghanistan picks up steam.

WHY ARE THE CHANGES BEING MADE?

Since the United States switched to a training mission at the end of 2014, a resurgent Taliban has battled Afghanistan's security forces as it seeks to regain territory in northern Afghanistan and particularly in its stronghold of Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan. American military officials have acknowledged that the security situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated since the transition to the training mission, but they have praised the performance of Afghanistan's army and police despite high numbers of casualties and temporary setbacks on the battlefield.

Most of the 9,800 U.S. military forces in Afghanistan are serving in a training mission known as "Resolute Support," which, for the most part, is conducted on large bases.

About 1,000 of those forces are in Afghanistan for a counter-terrorism mission known as "Freedom's Sentinel" that targets al-Qaeda and ISIS-affiliated forces in Afghanistan. Only American special operations forces had been allowed to advise and assist Afghan special operations forces "outside the wire" and only limited airstrikes were authorized in cases of self-defense or as part of the counter-terrorism mission that targeted al-Qaeda.

As the security situation has deteriorated, American military commanders have made recommendations to the White House for expanded authorities. In December, General John Campbell, then the top commander in Afghanistan, requested new authorities and received approval to conduct airstrikes against the growing ISIS presence in eastern and southern Afghanistan. Beginning in March his successor General John Nicholson conducted an assessment of the battlefield situation that led to the expanded authorities approved by President Obama.

WILL AMERICAN TROOPS BE CLOSER TO COMBAT?

Under the new authorities, U.S. forces will be able to "proactively support Afghan conventional forces" with more firepower, "especially through close air support" and by accompanying and advising Afghan conventional forces, said the official.

Until now, only American special operations forces had been allowed to advise and assist Afghan special operations forces "outside the wire." Those American special operations forces were not allowed to operate on the front lines, though with the shifting lines of battlefields they could fire their weapons in self-defense if the fight came to them.

That is what happened in January in southern Afghanistan when Army Staff Sergeant Matthew McLintock was killed in a firefight when the Afghan special forces he was advising were attacked by Taliban fighters, military officials said.

A senior Defense Department official told ABC News that the broader authorities approved by President Obama will be used by military commanders "in those select instances in which their engagement can enable strategic effects on the battlefield."

General John Nicholson, the top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, will now be allowed to determine when American forces should advise and assist conventional Afghan Army units.

In Iraq, American advisers accompany most conventional Iraqi and Kurdish units fighting ISIS at the division headquarters level away from the front lines. There too a quick-moving battlefield shift can lead to advisers facing a deadly combat situation, as was the case when Navy SEAL Charles Keating IV was killed in a firefight in northern Iraq.

WILL THERE BE MORE AIRSTRIKES AGAINST THE TALIBAN?

When the U.S. transitioned to a training mission in Afghanistan at the end of 2014, there was also a change in the rules that allowed airstrikes against Taliban fighters.

Reflecting the shift away from a combat mission, airstrikes could no longer target Taliban fighters just because they were affiliated with the Taliban. Airstrikes could only be used in self-defense in what are known as "in extremis" situations when Afghan forces are about to be overrun or if there is an imminent danger to U.S. and Afghan forces, and for counter-terrorism missions carried out under "Freedom's Sentinel."

Last December, President Obama authorized an expansion of the airstrike authorities that would allow the targeting of the growing ISIS presence in eastern and southern Afghanistan under the "Freedom's Sentinel" counter-terrorism mission.

Most of the airstrikes conducted this year in Afghanistan have been conducted against ISIS targets. The broadened authorities approved by President Obama will not mean a return to the airstrike campaign that targeted the Taliban just because of their affiliation. They will allow close air support on the battlefield in those select specific occasions when American troops are accompanying conventional Afghan forces and doing so might provide an opportunity for them to seize a strategic advantage on the battlefield.

The official called the new authorities "a doubling down on what has produced results" in the parallel "Freedom's Sentinel" mission in Afghanistan.