US Marines in Helmand Province: New announcement by the Commander-in-Chief
Photo: ADEK BERRY / AFP
US President Donald Trump wants to withdraw the last US soldiers remaining in Afghanistan by Christmas.
"We should have the small remaining number of our brave men and women serving in Afghanistan at home by Christmas!" Wrote Trump on Wednesday (local time) on the online service Twitter.
At the beginning of November, the US Department of Defense announced that it would reduce the number of US soldiers in the Hindu Kush from currently 8,600 to 5,000 by November.
The withdrawal date was previously set to be mid-2021.
A few weeks before the US presidential election, Trump spoke out in favor of a significant acceleration of the withdrawal plan.
However, he did not initially provide any further details.
The strong military has always been the greatest asset in the peace negotiations with the Taliban.
The withdrawal of US troops has always been the most important negotiating point - and thus the decisive lever for the USA.
But Trump wants to save costs and keep his election promise to bring troops back from the conflict regions.
The current troop strength of around 8,600 soldiers has so far been considered the minimum in order to maintain the military mission.
Whether, and if so, why something has changed in this assessment, was not evident from the President's message.
The threat of terrorism in the country remains very high
The USA signed an agreement with the Taliban on February 29 in Doha, the capital of Qatar, which provides for the withdrawal of international troops.
In return, the Taliban assured that Afghanistan no longer posed a terrorist threat.
However, the security situation in the country is still extremely tense.
The agreement should also pave the way for intra-Afghan peace talks.
An exchange of prisoners was planned as a confidence-building measure.
The government in Kabul was not involved in the agreement because the Taliban had previously refused to hold direct talks with it.
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