More US troops will be returning to Afghanistan this year

Hundreds of U.S. Marines are heading to Afghanistan.

Around 300 members of the II Marine Expeditionary Force will help NATO's Resolute Support mission. The Marines will "train and advise key leaders within the Afghan National Army" and national police.

Resolute Support is a coalition effort to help stabilize Afghanistan and allow it to govern and defend itself.

The deployment focuses on the Helmand province, where the Taliban regained a lot of territory. The area has important smuggling lanes, as well as opium-producing poppy fields the terrorists use to fund their operations.

SEE MORE: Friendly Fire May Have Killed 2 US Army Rangers In Afghanistan

The move was announced in early January, before President Donald Trump took office. But Trump's administration is on board with sending more troops to Afghanistan.

In late April, the Army announced it will deploy 1,500 soldiers to Afghanistan some time in the summer.

At the end of President Barack Obama's term, the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan had decreased to around 8,400. But with these additions, that number will soon be back above 10,000.