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President Trump’s plans to completely withdraw all US troops from Afghanistan this year now appear to have been scrapped according to NATO and Pentagon sources.
Speaking to Reuters, an anonymous NATO official said “There will be no full withdrawal by allies by April-end.”
The move was also confirmed by three other NATO officials.
The source suggested that “conditions have not been met” for a full withdrawal, and that the Biden administration will likely not seek to withdraw remaining US troops.
“With the new US administration, there will be tweaks in the policy, the sense of hasty withdrawal which was prevalent will be addressed and we could see a much more calculated exit strategy,” the source noted.
Trump had been determined to bring all US troops home from Afghanistan, and signed a deal last year with the Taliban to draw down troops, leaving no US presence by the end of April this year.
Trump managed to get the Pentagon to reduce troops numbers to 2500 in the war torn region, but now it appears that more troops will not be brought back to the US.
Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said last week that the Taliban have not met “their commitments to renounce terrorism and to stop the violent attacks against the Afghan National Security Forces,” and because of this, “it’s very hard to see a specific way forward for the negotiated settlement.”
Biden’s administration is ‘reviewing’ the situation, but is likely to reneg on Trump’s deal, according to reports.
Democrats have called Trump’s drawdowns “hasty and reckless”, claiming that troops are needed in Afghanistan for ‘leverage’ in hostage negotiations and to ensure Afghan security forces are well trained in counter terrorism.