Former U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration signed a peace agreement with the Taliban, an Afghan militia group, in February last year, promising that U.S. troops would be fully withdrawn by May 1 this year. With the deadline approaching, the Afghan internal negotiations are progressing slowly, and the U.S. media on Tuesday (13) quoted officials as saying that current President Joe Biden has decided to extend the withdrawal deadline to Sept. 11.
The report said Biden has been hinting at a delay in the withdrawal date for the past few weeks, saying it would be difficult to withdraw the remaining 2,500 U.S. troops in an orderly manner as time passes and the situation on the ground remains unstable. Before the announcement, a U.S. official, who declined to be named, told U.S. media details of Biden’s decision, adding that the deadline for withdrawal coincided with the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The Trump administration’s peace deal with the Taliban promises to reduce the number of U.S. troops on the ground from about 13,000 to 8,600 in 135 days, with the remaining U.S. troops to be withdrawn by May 1, 2021, in exchange for peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government. The Taliban began negotiations with the government last September, but little progress has been made, and the conflict in the past few months has been growing. The State Department also said last week that the level of violence in Afghanistan has been unacceptably high.
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