Weeks before the May 1 deadline in withdrawing all US forces from Afghanistan, the United States President Joe Biden administration is now considering the US troops extension in Afghanistan for six months, based on a defense official.
Joe Biden Weighs US Troops Extension in Afghanistan
Based on the official, other options are still on the table. Among the options include the full withdrawal of the US troops by May 1. But a sign of the current thinking of Biden came this week as the president shared that he did not think that it would not take a lot longer and he added that the full withdrawal by May 1 could happen but it is tough.
According to CNN, the defense official shared that the Biden administration also wants the Taliban to agree on the extension. But the official clarified that no final decision has been made yet and the US troop's six-month extension is under consideration.
Moreover, Biden has some domestic political cover as a number of members in the Congress are worried regarding the full drawdown. Biden has been sharply critical regarding the details the administration of Trump negotiated.
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In an interview, Biden shared he is in the process of making a decision on when the US troops leave. He also added that it is a fact that the deal negotiated by the former president is not a very solid deal that is why consultations with other allies as well as the government were currently made and it is in the process right now.
In addition, there is a report from an influential Afghanistan study group which was co-chaired by former Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford. He recommended a more flexible timeline based on condition, as the reduction of violence. Also, one critical problem is the current agreement with the Taliban, as they do not acknowledge potentially hundreds of special operations forces by the US in the country that is not part of the current group of 2,500 US troops there.
Also, if the US troops will be staying to help with counter-terrorism missions beyond a drawdown, the US may have to broadly acknowledge the presence of the troops. Numerous defense officials previously mentioned in their interviews that the US-led NATO alliance would like to have the decision on or before April 1 due to the challenges of pulling out the weaponry and the equipment of the US and also to the concerns regarding some of the weaponry may fall into Taliban's hands, Forbes reported.
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Meanwhile, in a report by the Pentagon, they stated that the full withdrawal could be devastating to the survival of the Afghan state as it will be hard. But as the US president weighs his options, the US troops continue their operations in Afghanistan, conducting airstrikes and targeting the Taliban.
In a tweet on Wednesday, US Forces Afghanistan spokesman Col. Sonny Leggett mentioned that the recent US airstrikes targeted fighters of the Taliban who were actively attacking and maneuvering on the positions of Afghan National Security Forces in Kandhar. But the airstrikes were strongly condemned by the Taliban as their spokesman Qari Mohammad Yusuf Ahmadi confirmed that their members who were killed and injured but he did not specify the numbers, NBC News reported.
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