Jubilee Post News & Views
Special Desk
America is likely to call back its troops from Afghanistan and the announcement is likely to come today by US President Joe Biden.
US officials say though a formal announcement will clarify the scene but the US is set to announce that American troops will leave Afghanistan by 11 September.
This would but make the US miss a May 2021 deadline for a pull-out agreed with the Taliban by the Trump administration in 2020.
Biden had previously said the 1 May deadline would be tough to meet. The new deadline would coincide with the 20th anniversary of the terror attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in the US in 2001.
US and Nato officials have said the Taliban, a hardline Islamist movement, have so far failed to live up to commitments to reduce violence.
The Taliban have been warned that if they attack US troops during the pull-out phase, they “will be met with a forceful response”, said a senior administration official who was briefing reporters.
Biden had decided a hasty withdrawal that would put US forces at risk was not a viable option, the official added. At the same time, a review of US choices determined that now was the time to close the book on the 20-year conflict in Afghanistan to focus on more acute threats.
It seems unlikely they would now resume attacks on American forces given the short extension period; nevertheless, the Taliban reaction so far has been hostile.
Those in the Afghan government had hoped the new Biden administration would adopt a more conditions-based approach to the peace process.
