Agencies
Washington, April 14:
US President Joe Biden on Tuesday said that he has planned to have all American troops out of war-torn Afghanistan by September 11 this year, the 20th anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attack on the twin-towers in New York.
The President is deeply grateful for the honour, courage and determination of the US’ men and women who served in Afghanistan for almost two decades, as well as the sacrifices made not just by those troops, but also by their families, a senior Biden administration official told reporters during a conference call.
“After a rigorous policy review, President Biden has decided to drawdown the remaining US troops from Afghanistan and finally end the US war there after 20 years. We will begin an orderly drawdown of the remaining forces before May 1 and plan to have all US troops out of the country before the 20th anniversary of 9/11,” the official said.
“We went to Afghanistan to deliver justice to those who attacked us on September 11 and to disrupt terrorists seeking to use Afghanistan as a safe haven to attack. We believe we achieved that objective some years ago.
“We judged the threat against the homeland now emanating from Afghanistan to be at a level that we can address it, without a persistent military footprint in the country and without remaining at war with the Taliban,” the official said.
“After a rigorous policy review, President Biden has decided to drawdown the remaining US troops from Afghanistan and finally end the US war there after 20 years. We will begin an orderly drawdown of the remaining forces before May 1 and plan to have all US troops out of the country before the 20th anniversary of 9/11,” the official said.
“We went to Afghanistan to deliver justice to those who attacked us on September 11 and to disrupt terrorists seeking to use Afghanistan as a safe haven to attack. We believe we achieved that objective some years ago.
“We judged the threat against the homeland now emanating from Afghanistan to be at a level that we can address it, without a persistent military footprint in the country and without remaining at war with the Taliban,” the official said.
