US, NATO Begin Troop Withdrawal from Several Bases in Afghanistan
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The United States and NATO have begun withdrawing their troops from a number of bases in Afghanistan, Commander of the Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan, Austin Scott Miller said at a press conference on Sunday.
Miller added that the US military will eventually hand over all their bases to Afghan forces.
"We have started withdrawing from a number of bases ... Even if Afghanistan has access to a peace agreement, we have been told to leave", Miller said at the press conference, Sputnik reported.
The announcement comes as NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg revealed the bloc's plans to start withdrawing troops from Afghanistan by May 1. The alliance intends to complete the withdrawal in several months.
US President Joe Biden, in turn, vowed to withdraw US troops by September 11, on the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
Under the terms of the previous US-Taliban agreement, signed in Doha by then-president Donald Trump, the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, in exchange for the Taliban's commitment not to host terrorist forces in the country that could threaten US national security, was supposed to be effectuated on May 1. However, Biden admitted that meeting the original deadline could be "tough".
Despite the launch of peace talks between the movement and Kabul in Qatar's Doha last September, clashes between the Taliban and the Afghan military still continue to rock the country.
