Gen. Mark Milley declined to say whether Afghanistan s security forces are fully ready to stand up to the Taliban without direct international backing during a potential Taliban offensive.
Afghanistan troop withdrawal should be tied with peace talk progress, says German foreign minister The Associated Press February 2 Security personnel inspect the site of a bomb attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021. (Rahmat Gul/AP) BERLIN The withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan should be tied to progress in stuttering peace negotiations between the Kabul government and the Taliban, rather than “slavishly” bound to an end-of-April deadline, Germany’s foreign minister said Tuesday. Germany is the second-biggest contributor to NATO’s Resolute Support training and assistance mission in Afghanistan, after the United States. President Joe Biden’s new administration has said it plans to review the peace agreement signed last February between the U.S. and the Taliban.
Drawdowns of troops in Germany and Afghanistan up in the air January 28 Soldiers fire their mortar system in support of operations in Laghman Province, Afghanistan. Troops are still scheduled to come home completely in May, but that could change. (Sgt. Jordan Trent/Army) The Pentagon is still working with a May deadline for a full withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, but a Defense Department spokesman told reporters on Thursday that the way ahead is unclear. The White House under President Donald Trump spent much of 2020 beating the drum for a full withdrawal from Afghanistan, which manifested in a reduction from 8,000 early in the year to 2,500 as of Jan. 15. But the Biden administration is revisiting the conditions of that withdrawal, specifically the Taliban’s commitment to making sure the Afghan people have a chance at self-governance, and that the country won’t once again become a terrorism home base.