“The U.S. military personnel inside Afghanistan, while operating in a dangerous place, are not in a combat role there, and that is significant,” said spokesman Josh Earnest.

U.S. troops are not in a position to “patrol the valleys of Afghanistan in search of Taliban insurgents”, Earnest said, but are building the capacity of Afghan forces to protect their country.

“That is a different kind of mission,” he said, adding that 10 months ago U.S. forces were in a combat role until President Barack Obama announced the U.S. mission in Afghanistan has ended.

Earnest made it clear that American troops has the capacity to react to any possible threat they faced.

“What U.S. military forces will do is if a terror threat is detected that is a significant risk to U.S. national security interests, that they are positioned to counter that threat,” he said.

Earnest’s remarks came after U.S. President Barack Obama said Thursday that he would keep 9,800 U.S. troops in Afghanistan through next year.

Obama’s decision came after Taliban fighters captured the northern city of Kunduz late last month.

Afghan forces supported by U.S. airstrikes regained control of the city last week. During the battle a U.S. airstrike mistakenly targeted a hospital operated by Doctors Without Borders, killing 12 of the organization’s staff and 10 patients.

Alongside a coalition of 42 nations under the umbrella of NATO, the U.S. intervened in Afghanistan in early 2002 following the Sept. 11 terror attacks.