(CNN) So, you thought the U.S. military pulled out of Afghanistan?

Then you were mistaken because, the fact is, America has never left the war-torn Asian nation. And it won't be heading out anytime soon.

Following a request by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, President Barack Obama said that U.S. forces will remain in Afghanistan at their current levels of 9,800 troops through much of 2016. The new plan calls for a drop to 5,500 troops by early 2017, when Obama's second and final term ends.

"While America's combat mission in Afghanistan may be over," Obama said Thursday in announcing the latest plan, "our commitment to Afghanistan and its people endures."

The war was deadliest for the U.S. in 2010

The September 11, 2001, attacks led the United States to invade Afghanistan. The United States quickly dislodged the Taliban government that had sheltered Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda, which orchestrated the terrorism. A U.S.-led coalition battled the Taliban for years after a new Afghan government took charge.

Nearly 7 in 10 coalition military members killed in Afghanistan were Americans, though the United Kingdom also lost several hundred service members. Also killed: Military men and women from Canada, Australia, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy and Poland.

Some parts of the country are more dangerous

Southern Afghanistan has been home for much of the deadliest of fighting. That's not too surprising: The Taliban had set up headquarters there in Kandahar. The U.S. ground war began there in 2001, and the Taliban fled Kandahar shortly after the Marines landed and took control of the airport.

The Taliban just won their biggest victory since 2001

The Taliban made headlines recently by capturing the northern city of Kunduz, the group's biggest military victory since 2001. The group didn't hold it for long, but the news took many by surprise. Experts who follow Afghanistan more closely say one reason for the Taliban's resurgence is pervasive corruption in the Afghan government -- ranked among the worst by Transparency International , a group that monitors global corruption.

Most corrupt nations Afghanistan has one of the highest levels of perceived corruption according to Transparency International. Rank Country 1 (tie) Somalia 1 (tie) North Korea 3 Sudan 4 Afghanistan 5 South Sudan 6 Iraq 7 Turkmenistan 8 (tie) Uzbekistan 8 (tie) Libya 8 (tie) Eritrea

Attack on hospital renews attention on the war

On October 3, not long after the Afghan military recaptured Kunduz from the Taliban, a U.S. gunship launched an airstrike and accidentally struck a Doctors Without Borders hospital in that city, the U.S. military said.

Photos: Doctors Without Borders hospital attacked in Afghanistan Photos: Doctors Without Borders hospital attacked in Afghanistan Flames are visible inside a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, after a U.S. airstrike on Saturday, October 3. At least 30 people died in the attack, the charity said in its internal review of the strike released Thursday, November 5. The commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan has said the hospital was hit accidentally. Hide Caption 1 of 5 Photos: Doctors Without Borders hospital attacked in Afghanistan Doctors Without Borders said it had emailed the GPS coordinates of its main hospital and administration office building at the Kunduz center before the airstrike. The U.S. commander said airstrikes were called after Afghan troops advised they were "taking fire from enemy positions."

Hide Caption 2 of 5 Photos: Doctors Without Borders hospital attacked in Afghanistan Doctors Without Borders is asking for an indepedent investigation by the International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission. President Barack Obama has apologized to the charity group for the attack. Hide Caption 3 of 5 Photos: Doctors Without Borders hospital attacked in Afghanistan The attacks came as fighting intensified between Afghan government forces -- supported by U.S. air power and military advisers -- and the Taliban, which invaded Kunduz in late September. Hide Caption 4 of 5 Photos: Doctors Without Borders hospital attacked in Afghanistan "We were running a hospital treating patients, including wounded combatants from both sides -- this was not a 'Taliban base,' " said Dr. Joanne Liu, international president of Doctors Without Borders or Médecins Sans Frontières, upon release of the group's internal review of the attack. Hide Caption 5 of 5

The attack killed 12 medical staff members, seven adult patients and three children patients.

The bombardment of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning humanitarian group's outpost was a tragic mistake, according to the U.S. government. The event also highlighted the degree to which the United States remains rooted in Afghanistan despite popular perceptions to the contrary.