WASHINGTON, Nov 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) – The Pentagon, yesterday confirmed that U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq will be reduced to 2,500 level, by mid-Jan, 2021.
“By Jan 15, 2021, our force size in Afghanistan will be 2,500 troops, our force size in Iraq will also be 2,500 by that same date,” said Acting Secretary of Defence, Christopher Miller, at a Pentagon press briefing.
Miller noted, the forces reposition plan, ordered by President Trump, “is consistent with our established plans and strategic objective.”
Currently, there are approximately 4,500 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, and 3,000 troops in Iraq, to support Iraqi forces in battles against remnants of the Daesh, mainly for training and advisory purposes.
Less than an hour after the Pentagon’s announcement, Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, told reporters that, “it is extremely important here in the next couple of months, not to have any earth-shaking changes, with regard to defence and foreign policy.”
“A precipitous drawdown in either Afghanistan or Iraq would be a mistake,” the top Senate Republican added.
The force reduction plan came, after a reshuffle of Pentagon leadership last week. Trump, on Nov 9, appointed Miller, the director of the National Counterterrorism Centre, as acting defence secretary to replace former Pentagon chief, Mark Esper, who reportedly had been pushing back on a premature withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The war in Afghanistan, which caused about 2,400 U.S. military deaths, is the longest one in U.S. history. Trump has long sought a full withdrawal from the country, but some of his senior aides from the military and the Pentagon, suggested a condition-based withdrawal.
The United States and Afghan Taliban signed an agreement in late Feb, which called for a full withdrawal of U.S. military forces from Afghanistan by May, 2021, if the Taliban meets the conditions of the deal, including severing ties with terrorist groups.
Commander of U.S. Central Command, Kenneth McKenzie, said, Taliban “had not shown conclusively that they’re going to break with al-Qaeda.”– NNN-AGENCIES
