President Joe Biden is mulling over an extension of the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan until November, despite an agreement with the Afghan Taliban to evacuate the country by early May. The decision might be taken after re-analyzing the security situation of the country, which is too fragile to cope up with the aftermath of the U.S. military exit.
President Biden is contemplating a six-month extension on the May 1st withdrawal deadline. According to the officials, the troops will leave the country gradually, and the last batch should leave by November as the peace situation is still very shaky in Afghanistan.
There are 2500 U.S. troops stationed in Afghanistan at the moment. In 2011, there were as many as 100,000 troops in the region.
Former President Donald Trump had struck a deal with the Taliban last year to put an end to a two-decade-long American presence in Afghanistan by May 1, 2021. The deal garnered a lot of criticism from defense and security experts.
The Taliban and the democratic Afghan government are still fighting to wrest control of the land-locked country.
A commissioned report by Congress, released in February 2021 concluded that the early withdrawal of US troops may leave the Afghan peace process in limbo.
On the other hand, the Taliban want the U.S. troops to leave the country as per schedule. It is very unlikely that they will agree to this extension by the deadline.
President Biden is still apprehensive about the move. The officials in the White House and the Pentagon have been very quiet about the situation otherwise.
