The United States will complete the withdrawal of its troops from Afghanistan at the end of August

The United States plans to complete its withdrawal from Afghanistan by the end of August, a few days earlier than originally planned., although it maintains a diplomatic presence in the country, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Friday.

“For now, we hope to finish it by the end of August”, Psaki said in his daily press conference.

This calendar is lower than that initially envisaged by US President Joe Biden, who set the deadline for September 11, after 20 years have passed since the September 11 attacks that prompted the US invasion of Afghanistan.

Psaki was pronounced like this hours after learning that US forces violated control of Bagram Air Base, its main military installation in Afghanistan, to the Afghan authorities.

The spokesperson further confirmed that, “Before the withdrawal process ends” in August, the United States will be moving thousands of translators and other Afghan workers who have supported American forces out of Afghanistan. during the last two decades of war.

Although Psaki declined to give more details “for security reasons”, the channel CNN reported this Friday that Washington is negotiating with Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to welcome some of these Afghan workers, as they complete a long process to obtain a visa to enter the United States.

The New York Times announced in June that there are over 18,000 Afghans who have worked as translators, engineers, drivers, security guards, “fixers” (guides) and embassy workers during the war and who find themselves in bureaucratic limbo after applying for this visa, known as SIV. These candidates also 53,000 relatives.

“Our plan is move these people somewhere outside of Afghanistan before ending our military withdrawal”, Subrayó Psaki.

Recently the Questions about speeding up the withdrawal schedule, when it was learned that American and NATO troops had just left Bagram air base. The latter, the largest in the country, was the main rear base for all US military operations in Afghanistan.

Spokesperson He also downplayed Biden’s blunt response on Friday to reporters who asked him about Afghanistan. during an event at the White House.

After being questioned three times about Afghanistan, Biden was exasperated and said he would not answer any further questions about this country, then added, visibly annoyed, that it was a “holiday weekend.” for US Independence Day, and I wanted to talk about “happy things”.

Psaki said that reporters “drew too many conclusions” from Biden’s reaction, and assured that he just wanted to settle the matter because he had already answered three questions, and not because it didn’t seem like an important question.

During this exchange with the press, The US president also felt that the Afghan government has the ability to maintain itself after the departure of American soldiers from their territory and despite the threat of the Taliban.

The reduction in international troops coincided with a the increase in the Taliban offensives and their advance on the territories. Since the start of the withdrawal, insurgents have captured nearly 80 of the 407 districts from government forces.

According to press articles, the Americans would maintain a presence of nearly 600 soldiers there to protect their embassy.

(With information from EFE and AFP)

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