U.S. Troops Leaving Afghanistan: 5 Things To Know

ACROSS AMERICA — Nearly two months after President Joe Biden announced the withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Afghanistan by Sept. 11, the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks, it is unclear if the Afghanistan government will be able to defend itself from terrorist activities.

“It is time to end the forever war,” Biden said in the April 14 announcement. Former President George W. Bush announced on Oct. 7, 2001, that the U.S. military had begun striking terrorist camps in Afghanistan in what became America’s longest war.

The U.S. withdrawal is around half finished, The Associated Press reported. It reported the military is “gathering, cataloging and shipping equipment and weaponry out of the region and turning over military posts to the Afghan government.”

It's unclear if any troops have already come home as part of the withdrawal.

1. Why Leave Now?

As vice president in 2008, Biden supported a U.S. military presence in Afghanistan to ensure the country “would not be used as a base from which to attack our homeland again” and to catch al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

“We delivered justice to bin Laden a decade ago, and we’ve stayed in Afghanistan for a decade since. Since then, our reasons for remaining in Afghanistan are becoming increasingly unclear, even as the terrorist threat that we went to fight evolved,” Biden said in April.

“We cannot continue the cycle of extending or expanding our military presence in Afghanistan, hoping to create ideal conditions for the withdrawal, and expecting a different result,” Biden said.

The final exit of U.S. troops from the region began May 1 under an agreement the Trump administration made with the Taliban.

“The Taliban should know that if they attack us as we draw down, we will defend ourselves and our partners with all the tools at our disposal,” Biden said.

2. How Many Troops Are Still In Afghanistan?

About 3,500 American troops remained in Afghanistan in April, The New York Times reported. NATO allies as a whole are withdrawing the nearly 9,600 soldiers from 36 countries still stationed in Afghanistan.

“The plan has long been ‘in together, out together,’” Biden said.

3. What Happens When The Troops Are Gone?

As of now, nobody can say for sure what will happen once the troops are gone.

The United Nations Security Council’s June 1 report said “news of the accelerated withdrawal of American troops has added uncertainty to the process, and some analysts have expressed concern the Taliban might abandon its engagement in the peace talks and pursue a military victory.”

The report included that “the two groups ‘remain closely aligned and show no indications of breaking ties,’” the report said.

In the agreement last year with the Trump administration, the Taliban pledged to disavow al-Qaida, but U.S. officials said they were skeptical after the Taliban willingly provided a safe haven for bin Laden and his associates, The Associated Press reported.

The Afghan government “will probably lose the capability of flying any of its aircraft within months, a few months,” Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction John F. Sopko told the House Committee on Oversight and Reform about Afghanistan's reconstruction and citizens’ rights in March.

“And, to be quite blunt, it probably would face collapse, especially if we also withdraw the funding …. So, if that happens, if you combine those three, it’s a disaster for Afghanistan. If there are no boots on the ground, we lose leverage.”

David Sedney, the former deputy assistant secretary for Afghanistan and Pakistan in the Department of Defense, said “a major flaw in the U.S. withdrawal plan is that it includes removing all U.S. civilian contractors, whose work is central to the proper functioning of Afghan military aircraft, radars, battlefield intelligence systems and other equipment,” The Associated Press reported.

Peace negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban are still possible.

4. U.S. Support After Exit

The Biden administration plans to continue monitoring terrorist threats while reorganizing U.S. presence in the Middle East.

Gen. Frank McKenzie, U.S. commander for the Middle East, is set to give Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin “a range of military options for securing the U.S. embassy in Afghanistan and providing counterterrorism support from outside the country once the withdrawal is complete,” officials told The AP.

Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters the U.S. and NATO allies are considering an international effort to secure the Kabul international airport, which will be critical for nations to maintain embassies.

The Biden administration says it will retain the U.S. Embassy, which is currently located in Kabul, despite the increased difficulty with the military’s departure.

Support for Afghans who worked for the U.S. government or NATO during the war remains one of many postwar uncertainties. Special immigrant visas are available to people who worked as a translator or interpreter in Iraq or Afghanistan, but the process could take years.

The Taliban said “it will not attack Afghans who worked with the U.S. military, calling on them to return to their homes and not flee the country,” The Associated Press reported.

Zalmay Khalilzad, Washington’s special envoy to Afghanistan, told Congress the Biden administration is trying to protect those civilians and “avoid the panic that might erupt if it appeared the United States was encouraging ‘the departure of all educated Afghans’ in a way that undermined the morale of Afghan security forces,” The Associated Press reported.

The U.S. government is contemplating how to best maintain contact within the region to receive information including early warning of extremist threats inside Afghanistan and the best options for surveilling any possible resurgence of terrorist organizations in the region, The Associated Press said.

5. Current Taliban Actions

Throughout the withdrawal process, the Talaban has been active throughout the country.

On June 11, The New York Times updated its reporting on current Afghan War casualties and found that, since June 1, 327 security forces and 82 civilians have been killed.

Between June 4 and June 10 alone, at least 263 Afghan security forces and 56 civilians were killed by the Taliban, and at least 11 districts were captured, The Times reported.

The Times reported that a bombing at Faryab Province killed 28 people. The district fell to the Taliban, which abducted 121 security forces. In the Baghlan Province, at least 10 people were killed and 16 more were injured in an attack against the HALO Trust, a nonprofit clearing landmines. The Islamic State took responsibility.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.