Withdrawing troops from Afghanistan, the US is still concerned about al-Qaeda. (Source: Reuters) In a report to the National Assembly entitled “Strengthening security and stability in Afghanistan”, the US Department of Defense emphasized: “The Al-Qaeda terrorist group still poses a threat to its soldiers and US allies in Afghanistan through ongoing interaction with local Taliban chiefs ”. Earlier this month, US President Joe Biden approved the complete withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan by 9/11. Same day, CNN quoted three US defense officials as saying that some of the US military equipment began to be shipped out of Afghanistan, which were unnecessary equipment and supplies, which were not destroyed or transferred to the force. Afghan security. Meanwhile, outdated equipment will be destroyed. This is the first move by the US military since President Joe Biden last week announced details of a plan to withdraw troops from Afghanistan with a deadline of 9/11, the full 20 years of the crisis. father in 2001 and also the event that sparked the US war in this southwest Asian country. (Reuters)

American soldiers at a training camp in Herat, Afghanistan. Photo: Getty Images According to the VNA correspondent in Washington, speaking during a Senate hearing, General McKenzie stated: “We will add resources to protect forces when withdrawing. This is normal in any event. form of withdrawal “. However, General McKenzie did not give temporary replenishment numbers and said plans were underway. General McKenzie also reiterated the US military’s concern that the withdrawal could facilitate the Taliban increased operations in Afghanistan. He is concerned about the Afghan military’s ability to maintain the current situation without the support it has had for many years. He warns the Taliban are now bigger than 2011, estimated at 50,000 fighters, and control more areas in Afghanistan than they did 10 years ago. Previously, President Joe Biden announced that the US – the country with the largest soldiers stationed in Afghanistan – would withdraw all remaining troops in Afghanistan before 9/11, 20 years after the series of attacks. Al-Qaeda’s father sparked a protracted US war in this southwest Asian country. US allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) have also agreed to withdraw their troops from Afghanistan according to the US withdrawal route. The war in Afghanistan left 2,400 US soldiers dead and cost the country an estimated $ 2 trillion. At the peak, the number of US troops in Afghanistan once reached 100,000 people in 2011. Currently the number of NATO troops in Afghanistan is about 9,600 people, of which the US has 2,500 soldiers and Germany has 1,100 soldiers.

American soldiers at Kandahar airbase, Afghanistan. (Photo: AFP / VNA) The head of American forces in the Middle East, General Kenneth McKenzie April 22 said the US will temporarily deploy more troops to Afghanistan to protect international forces when withdrawing. According to the VNA correspondent in Washington, speaking during a Senate hearing, General McKenzie stated: “We will add resources to protect forces when withdrawing. This is normal in any event. What form of withdrawal? ” However, General McKenzie did not give temporary replenishment numbers and said plans were underway. General McKenzie also reiterated the US military’s concern that the withdrawal could facilitate the Taliban increased operations in Afghanistan. He is concerned about the Afghan military’s ability to maintain the current situation without the support it has had for many years. Mr. McKenzie warned the forces Taliban is now larger than 2011, estimated at 50,000 fighters, and controls more areas in Afghanistan than it was 10 years ago. Previously, President Joe Biden announced that the US – the country with the most troops stationed in Afghanistan – would withdraw all remaining troops in Afghanistan before 9/11, 20 years after the series of attacks. Al-Qaeda’s father sparked a protracted US war in this southwest Asian country. US allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) have also agreed Withdrawing troops from Afghanistan right to the US withdrawal route . The war in Afghanistan left 2,400 US soldiers dead and cost the country an estimated $ 2 trillion. At the peak, the number of US troops in Afghanistan once reached 100,000 people in 2011. Currently the number of NATO soldiers still in Afghanistan is about 9,600 people, of which the US has 2,500 soldiers and Germany has 1,100 soldiers./.

German soldiers, joining NATO missions in Afghanistan, patrol in the Mazar-i-Sharif area, April 26, 2016. Photo: AFP / VNA

According to the VNA correspondent in Berlin, in his April 16 statement, German Defense Minister Kramp-Karrenbauer emphasized: “If everything goes according to plan, all German forces will leave Afghanistan by mid-August. “. This means German troops will leave Afghanistan by 9/11.

According to Minister Kramp-Karrenbauer, with the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, the deployment of German troops in the country ended “after nearly 20 years for the most lost and heavy duty in German military history”. She emphasized that the primary goal is to bring all soldiers, civilian personnel and international teammates back to their homeland healthy and safe. In addition to the US forces, there are about 7,000 foreign soldiers deployed in Afghanistan, including about 1,300 German soldiers.

Earlier on April 14, the NATO Council decided to join the US to begin withdrawing troops from Afghanistan from May 1. According to US President Joe Biden, the withdrawal lasted until September 11, the 20-year period of terrorist attacks on the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York and the ministry. Defense of the US in Washington, the capital, the reason for the US to launch the war later in Afghanistan.

At a previous conversation between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President Biden, the two sides agreed to cooperate regarding NATO’s military presence in Afghanistan. According to German government spokesman Steffen Seibert, the German and American leaders emphasized the importance of close coordination and cooperation as well as continued political commitment to the waning Southeast Asian nation. demolition after decades of war.

Despite the planned withdrawal, the United Nations (UN) still wants to continue its political and humanitarian mission in Afghanistan. United Nations spokesman Stéphane Dujarric stressed: “We will study the situation further, but our work in Afghanistan will continue. It is clear that the withdrawal of NATO and the US forces will have an overall impact on the country, he said. According to him, the UN has a long presence in Afghanistan, working in the field of humanitarian development. The United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA) consists of about 1,200 personnel, most of whom are Afghan citizens, and does not include a peacekeeping force.

According to Reuters, Mr. Biden decided to withdraw his troops from Afghanistan before 9/11/2021, exactly 20 years after the terrorist attack by Al-Qaeda sparked the prolonged war of the US and its NATO ally in the country. This southwest Asia.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin officially announced the decision to allies in the NATO bloc in Brussels during the meeting on April 14.

“After careful policy review, President Biden decided to withdraw the remaining number of troops in Afghanistan and eventually end the US war after 20 years,” said a State Department official.

US forces in Afghanistan.

Thus, this new decision shows that the previous withdrawal plan (May 1), which was signed by the administration of former President Donald Trump with the Taliban, could not be implemented. In response, a Taliban spokesman warned there would be consequences if the United States did not comply with the said deadline.

The Taliban are said to have been largely in compliance with their promise not to attack troops from the United States and other countries since the deal was signed, but stressed that things will change as the US pulls back from 9/11.

The Afghan peace process has already fallen to a standstill as peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban forces in the Qatar capital, Doha, stalled.

The US advocates to promote peace negotiations between the governments of Afghanistan and the Taliban before the last 2,500 troops of the country’s army must leave Afghanistan.

Washington wants the Afghan and Taliban governments to strike some power-sharing arrangements. Recently, the Taliban rejected the proposal of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to hold elections this year.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the process had pushed the nation on the brink of crisis. Any decisions regarding Afghanistan’s future need to be reached in bilateral negotiations.

Assessing the decision to withdraw all US forces from Afghanistan on September 11, experts said that this decision will put NATO in a difficult position.

When the US administration under President Trump decided to withdraw troops from Afghanistan by May 1 deadline, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned that Afghanistan was in danger of becoming a defeated IS base. Syria and Iraq.

Although admitting that NATO has been fighting in Afghanistan for too long, Stoltenberg said that it is not time to leave, while the withdrawal needs the coordination of the parties. American forces make up a small number of NATO troops in Afghanistan, but the alliance is heavily dependent on the United States for air transport, logistics and support.

The US withdrawal also raises questions about the possibility of the remaining countries pulling out. NATO began operating there in 2003, two years after the US-led coalition came to deal with the Taliban following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

But it is hard to say that NATO has fulfilled its original goal of “ensuring that it will never be a safe haven for international terrorists”. In the future, the continued stay of NATO will also face many difficulties, while withdrawal is undesirable by many parties, when the goal is not reached and the risk of terrorism will become even more haunted.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has rejected the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan before ending talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban. Maas also criticized the early US unilateral withdrawal of troops from the South Asian country that could jeopardize peace negotiations.

Considering that peace negotiations are very complicated and cannot be ended as scheduled, Minister Heiko Maas stated: “If the US withdraws its forces while other NATO allies cannot take over security in in the short term, the situation will become extremely volatile. “

On April 14, The Guardian quoted US President Joe Biden officials as saying that the withdrawal would begin before May 1-5. These officials stressed the US sending of troops into Afghanistan to “enforce justice against those who caused the September 11, 2001 attacks, to prevent terrorists from trying to make Afghanistan a safe haven.” and that goal “was achieved a few years ago”. “We evaluate the current Afghanistan threat to the United States as manageable without the need for Washington to maintain a military presence or maintain war with the Taliban here,” one American officials stressed. On the same day, German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will join the United States with the withdrawal of all troops from Afghanistan next September, because “we always say they I will come together and leave together ”.

US soldiers in Afghanistan Photo: Reuters.

According to the AP, the above decision also means that the US will not meet the deadline for the withdrawal of all troops from Afghanistan on May 1-5 under the peace agreement that the former administration of President Donald Trump had. signed with the Taliban last February. The Taliban have warned that they will resume hostile actions against foreign forces in Afghanistan if Washington does not withdraw as agreed.

In fact, although Mr. Biden once committed to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan when running for the presidency, the White House boss himself admitted that withdrawing by a deadline of May 1-5 was “very difficult”. A US official confirmed, on September 11, 2021, would be “the absolute deadline” and would not be affected by the security situation in Afghanistan, because “conditional withdrawal of troops means staying in Afghanistan forever.” far away ”. AP said that “absolute deadline” shows the determination of the US administration to end the longest war in American history. The costly and costly war in Afghanistan has left more than 2,200 US soldiers dead, 20,000 injured and costing more than $ 1 trillion.

US intelligence agencies have warned the Biden administration about the danger that the Taliban could control much of Afghanistan within the next two to three years, if Washington withdraws all troops from the southwest Asian country. Along with that, this will facilitate the rise of al-Qaeda terrorist network in Afghanistan. According to The Guardian, the Biden administration’s plan to withdraw troops from Afghanistan immediately met with opposition from many MPs from both Democrats and Republicans. Sen. Mitch McConnell of the Republican Party said that foreign terrorists will not leave America “just because our politicians are tired of fighting them.” Mr. McConnell asked President Biden to explain to the American people “why giving up allies and withdrawing in the face of the Taliban makes America safer”. Meanwhile, according to Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of the Democratic Party, the withdrawal “undermines our commitment to the Afghan people, especially Afghan women”. “I urge the Biden administration to do its best from now to September to protect progress has been made, as well as to assist our partners in forming a transitional government,” said Thuong. MP Shaheen wrote on the social networking site Twitter.

Since Washington signed a peace deal with the Taliban, the number of US troops stationed in Afghanistan has dropped from 12,000 to 2,500, according to the Pentagon. However, The New York Times quoted US officials as confirming the number of US troops currently stationed in Afghanistan was 3,500.