US Starts Troop Withdrawal From Afghanistan To End War

The United States has formally started withdrawing its last troops from Afghanistan Saturday, bringing its longest war closer to an end, but amid an uncertain future for the country.

US officials on the ground say the withdrawal is already a work in progress but Washington has made an issue of the date because it is a deadline agreed with the Taliban in 2020 to complete the pullout.

The prospect of an end of 20 years of US presence in Afghanistan comes despite fighting raging across the countryside by and emboldened Taliban and in the absence of a peace deal.

US President Joe Biden wants to end what he termed as “the forever war”, announcing last month that the withdrawal of the remaining 2,500 American forces would be complete by the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

But the exit of US forces has only intensified the fear felt by ordinary Afghans with concerns that the country might go back to the dark days of the Taliban era.

Since the US withdrawal deal was struck the Taliban have not directly engaged foreign troops, but insurgents have mercilessly attacked government forces in the countryside and waged a terror campaign in urban areas. 

However, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani insists that government forces,  who for months have carried out most of the ground fighting against the Taliban,, are “fully capable” of keeping the insurgents at bay.

He said the pullout also means the Taliban have no reason to fight.