US-led international forces will leave Afghanistan before September 11, the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks that brought them to the country, said a senior Biden administration official on Tuesday.
The US will leave behind troops only to protect its diplomats, and not for counterinsurgency or training purposes as had been considered. The senior official said the size of this residual presence will be decided in consultation with coalition partners.
US-led forces were supposed to have left Afghanistan by May 1, according to the terms of an agreement that the Trump administration had signed with the Taliban.
President Joe Biden, who is expected to announce the new timeline on Wednesday, had expressed the inability to comply with the May 1 deadline. “We are not staying for a long time. We will leave,” Biden had said. “The question is when we leave.”
The US currently has 2,500-3,500 troops in Afghanistan, with around 8,500 soldiers of coalition partners.
As a candidate for the White House, Biden had indicated he supported leaving behind a residual force for counterinsurgency and training Afghan forces. But now the troops to be left behind will be meant only for the security of diplomats, which, the US official said, was the topmost priority.
{{/usCountry}}As a candidate for the White House, Biden had indicated he supported leaving behind a residual force for counterinsurgency and training Afghan forces. But now the troops to be left behind will be meant only for the security of diplomats, which, the US official said, was the topmost priority.
{{/usCountry}}The official also said the drawdown will not be condition-based, which would end up keeping US forces in the country longer. The US will continue to monitor al-Qaeda and other terrorist forces in the country from its military presence in the region.
The official said the Taliban will be on notice to not attack the US and international forces in the intervening months to the September 11 exit.
The drawdown will start before May 1 and will be over before September 11, which is the outer limit, the official said, adding that US forces could leave much earlier than that.