KABUL: The Trump administration plans to withdraw around 4,000 troops from Afghanistan as early next week, the US media reported on Saturday.
The United States currently has approximately 13,000 troops stationed in Afghanistan while the drawdown will leave around 8,000 to 9,000 US troops behind, the NBC quoted three current and former US officials as saying.
The US media quoted two of the officials terming it as “phased withdrawal” spanning over few months where some of the troops would be re-deployed early while others will not be replaced when they rotate out.
However, the spokesperson for the US Forces-Afghanistan (USFOR) said that no orders of a troop reduction in Afghanistan had been received.
“US Forces-Afghanistan has not received orders to reduce troop levels in Afghanistan. We remain fully committed to the Resolute Support mission and our Afghan partners and focused on our key objective: ensuring Afghanistan is never again used as a safe haven for terrorists who threaten the United States, our allies or our interests,” the statement read.
The United States resumed peace talks with the Taliban a week back but paused the parleys on Thursday after a militant attack on a US-run airbase north of Kabul left two dead and dozens injured.
According to a draft agreement reached in September, the Taliban would be required to give certain security assurances, agree to hold dialogue with the Afghan government, and commit to reducing violence in exchange for the US troop withdrawal.
Security analyst and a retired Afghan army general, Attiqullah Amarkhail said, “We all agree that foreign troops are bound to leave at some stage.”
“We have been expecting the US decision of troops reduction for months,” he told Arab News.
He said the size of US troop presence in Afghanistan would not matter much as “most of the combat responsibilities have already been shifted to the national forces for months now.”
Talking about the capacity of the Afghan security force, Amarkhail said: “The troops’ capabilities have gone up despite the challenges.”
“Our troops know the terrain, geography, and people more than others, but we need resources and support from the coalition in terms of equipping our air force, better equipment, and ammunition,” he added.
The US peace envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad, is reportedly back in Doha according to a US state department official quoted by AFP. However, it yet remains unclear as to when the stalled talks with the Taliban will resume.
Trump had promised since his campaign trail in 2016 to end US wars including the engagement in Afghanistan and reduce the number of US troops deployed overseas.
The US president had made it clear to his advisers early this year that he wanted a complete troop pullout from Afghanistan by November 2020 election, NBC reported.
