President Biden made the remarks at his first formal White House news conference, saying it would be hard to meet the deadline “just in terms of tactical reasons” but added that he did not think the troops still would be there next year.
He was apparently referring to the logistical challenges associated with the troops withdrawal within such a short period of time.
It comes as earlier Adam Smith, a U.S. House Democrat said Wednesday addressing to an online foreign policy magazine forum that there is a “general feeling” within the Biden administration that pulling all U.S. forces out of Afghanistan by the May deadline is “too soon,” largely because of the logistics of removing troops and equipment in just six weeks.
The U.S. top lawmaker also said that the Biden administration is exploring an agreement with the Taliban to allow keeping a U.S. counterterrorism force to fight the Islamic State.
Earlier too, the U.S. President Joe Biden had said it would be “tough” to meet the troop withdrawal deadline which was set in a peace agreement he inherited from his predecessor Donald Trump.
The Taliban, however, warned against keeping troops, saying it would resume attacks on foreign forces if the U.S. does not meet the deadline.
Under a deal signed between the United States and the Taliban late February last year, the United States and allies made commitments to pull all troops out of Afghanistan by May 1, 2021.
(Reuters and News Agencies)
Follow TKG on Twitter & Facebook
