US President Joe Biden authorized the deployment of about 5,000 US troops in Afghanistan to facilitate "orderly and safe drawdown" of personnel, the White House said in a statement Saturday night.
Biden ordered armed forces and the intelligence community to maintain vigilance for "future terrorist threats" from Afghanistan, the statement continued.
A US Defense official told Reuters that 4,000 of the 5,000 troops have already been approved, and the additional 1,000 will be coming from the 82nd airborne division.
Any action risking US personnel will be met with a "swift and strong" military response, Biden said in the statement.