President Joe Biden’s decision which is expected to be announced on Wednesday will keep U.S. forces beyond a May 1 deadline which was negotiated between former President Donald Trump and the Taliban on late February last year.
While the Taliban have warned to resume attack against foreign troops if they stay in Afghanistan beyond the May deadline; however, it is unclear the group will follow through with those threats given Biden’s plan for a phased withdrawal between now and September.
Officially, there are 2,500 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, although the number fluctuates and is currently about 1,000 more than that. There are also up to an additional 7,000 foreign forces in the coalition there, the majority of them NATO troops.
It comes as the Turkish Foreign Ministry announced Tuesday in a statement that a U.S.-backed peace summit on Afghanistan will be reconvened on April 24 lasting until May 4, beyond a U.S. troop withdrawal deadline.
The decision was made a day after the Taliban on Monday announced it backed out of participating in the summit on Afghanistan and was still deliberating in this regard.
(Reporting: Washington Post)
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