Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

US to withdraw Troops from Afghanistan by Sept. 11


Tue 13 Apr 2021 | 10:18 PM
Ahmad El-Assasy

President Joe Biden expects to withdraw the remaining 2,500 US troops from Afghanistan by September 11, 2021, exactly 20 years after the al Qaeda attacks that sparked America's longest war, according to media sources.

The strategy was revealed on the same day that the US intelligence community issued a bleak forecast for Afghanistan, predicting “low” prospects of a peace agreement this year and warning that if the US-led coalition withdrew support, the Afghan government would struggle to keep the Taliban insurgency at bay.

Biden's decision would cause him to miss a May 1 withdrawal deadline set by his predecessor, Donald Trump, with the Taliban. If the deadline was not met, the rebels threatened to resume hostilities against foreign forces. However, Biden will also set a date for withdrawal in the immediate future, possibly assuaging Taliban fears.

The Democratic president will make his decision public on Wednesday, according to the White House. The pullout will begin before May 1 and could be completed well before the September 11 deadline, according to a senior Biden administration official. It would also not be subject to any other requirements, such as protection or human rights.

“The president has judged that a conditions-based approach, which has been the approach of the past two decades, is a recipe in staying in Afghanistan forever,” the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said in a briefing with reporters.