“It is time to end America’s longest war,” Joe Biden, President of the United States of America said in a speech from the White House room where US airstrikes there were first declared in 2001.
The pull-out is to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the 11 September 2001 terror attacks, officials say. At least 2,500 US troops are part of the 9,600-strong Nato Afghan mission.
The number of US troops on the ground in Afghanistan fluctuates, and US media report the current total is closer to 3,500. US and Nato officials have said the Taliban, a hardline Islamist movement, have so far failed to live up to commitments to reduce violence in Afghanistan.
Joe Biden’s plan pushes back the 1 May deadline agreed to by the Trump White House.
The deal signed in February 2020 said the US and its Nato allies would withdraw all troops by May 2021 if the Taliban upheld its promises, including not allowing al-Qaeda or other militants to operate in areas it controlled and proceeding with national peace talks.
Although the group stopped attacks on international forces as part of the historic agreement, it has continued to fight the Afghan government. Last month, the Taliban threatened to resume hostilities against foreign troops still in the country on 1 May.
He also paid his respects to the victims of the 11 September 2001 attack which triggered the US invasion of Afghanistan.
“We went to Afghanistan because of a horrific attack that happened 20 years ago,” he said. “That cannot explain why we should remain there in 2021.”
“We cannot continue the cycle of extending or expanding our military presence in Afghanistan hoping to create the ideal conditions for our withdrawal, expecting a different result,” said Mr Biden, the fourth president to oversee the war.
“While we will not stay involved in Afghanistan militarily, our diplomatic and humanitarian work will continue,” he continued, adding: “We will continue to support the government of Afghanistan.”
“We have service members who were not yet born when our nation was attacked on 9/11. War in Afghanistan was never meant to be a multigenerational undertaking.”
Later on Wednesday, Mr Biden will visit Arlington National Cemetery, where some of the 2,488 US troops who died fighting in Afghanistan are buried.
Joe Biden also pledged to continue providing assistance to Afghan defence and security forces – including 300,000 personnel, who he says “continue to fight valiantly on behalf of their country and defend the Afghan people, at great cost”.
While, Taliban believe that the victory is theirs. Sitting over a cup of green tea, Haji Hekmat proclaims, “we have won the war and America has lost”. The decision by US President Joe Biden to delay the withdrawal of remaining US forces to September, meaning they will remain in the country past the 1 May deadline agreed last year, has sparked a sharp reaction from the Taliban’s political leadership. Nonetheless, momentum seems to be with the militants.
“We are ready for anything,” says Haji Hekmat, the Taliban’s shadow mayor in Balkh district.
“We are totally prepared for peace, and we are fully prepared for jihad.” Sitting next to him, a military commander adds: “Jihad is an act of worship. Worship is something that, however much of it you do, you don’t get tired.”For the past year, there has been an apparent contradiction in the Taliban’s “jihad”.
They stopped attacks on international forces following the signing of an agreement with the US, but continued to fight with the Afghan government. Haji Hekmat, though, insists there is no contradiction. “We want an Islamic government ruled by the Sharia. We will continue our jihad until they accept our demands.”
On whether or not the Taliban would be willing to share power with other Afghan political factions, Haji Hekmat defers to the group’s political leadership in Qatar. “Whatever they decide we will accept,” he repeatedly said in an interview with Secunder Kermani and Mahfouz Zubaide for BBC.
Inputs from BBC.