US President Biden is going to withdraw all American troops from Afghanistan over the coming months completing the military exit by the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that drew the United States into its longest war.
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Unlike the Trump Administration, which made its troop withdrawal by May 1 conditional — on Taliban taking steps to prevent al-Qaeda or any other group from sheltering in Afghanistan, and agreeing to a dialogue on power sharing with the Afghan government — the Biden plan has no strings attached.
There are about 2,500-3,500 US troops in Afghanistan at present, plus a NATO force of under 8,000. A co-ordinated withdrawal is expected to begin soon.
After withdrawing, the U.S. and NATO aim to rely on Afghan military and police forces, which they have developed with billions of dollars in funding, to maintain security though peace talks are struggling and the insurgency is resilient.
September 11 is a highly symbolic date as it will be 20 years since al-Qaeda attacked the U.S. with hijacked airliners, triggering military intervention in Afghanistan.
An integral part of NATO’s current mission, Resolute Support, is to train and equip Afghan security forces fighting the Islamist Taliban.
