WASHINGTON - Pledging support to the Afghan government, the United States said on Wednesday it was monitoring the situation in northern Kunduz province.

A White House (WH) spokesman told reporters in Washington that at this point the US had no policy announcement to make with regard to America’s presence in Afghanistan.

“The US continue to monitor efforts by Afghan National Defense and Security Forces to retake Kunduz. The US and coalition forces are providing advisory support and have conducted a limited number of air strikes,” Josh Earnest said.

He added the US would continue to work closely with President Ashraf Ghani, the Afghan government and its international partners to ensure that Afghan forces had the capabilities and training necessary to preserve the gains that have been made over the last 13 years.

“When it comes to policy decisions, I don't have a lot of news to make in this regard, but there are two observations that I have,” he said in response to a question.

“The first is that the president, when accounting these decisions in the past, when it comes to our military commitment to Afghanistan, has routinely noted the conditions on the ground influence that policy process,” he remarked.

Before arriving at any decision, he explained, the US continue to monitor efforts by the Afghan government and security forces to retake Kunduz, and that would factor into a longer-term assessment of conditions on the ground, Earnest concluded. (Pajhwok)