On Tuesday, the White House announced that the US would complete the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan by 11 September, the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks. On Wednesday, NATO announced that its forces would start to withdraw from the war-torn country after a similar decision was made by the US.
The United States will begin its final withdrawal from Afghanistan on 1 May, President Joe Biden has announced.
Speaking in Washington, DC on Wednesday, Biden said that the reasons for staying in Afghanistan had “become increasingly unclear,” and that the US had “accomplished all that we can militarily.”
“I am now the fourth United States president to preside over and American troop presence in Afghanistan. Two Republicans. Two Democrats. I will not pass this responsibility to a fifth,” he said.
The president went on to say that Washington would continue to provide assistance to the Afghan security forces after withdrawal.
He also offered a warning to the Taliban, saying the US would hold the group “accountable for its commitment not to allow any terrorists to threaten the US or its allies from Afghan soil. The Afghan government has made that commitment to us as well,” Biden said.
The terms of the 2020 US-Taliban agreement in Doha, signed by Biden's predecessor, Donald Trump, promised US withdrawal from Afghanistan in exchange for a commitment by the militant group not to host terrorist forces which could…
