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Updated July 8th, 2021 at 16:58 IST

Joe Biden to deliver major policy speech on Afghanistan amid US troops withdrawal

US President Joe Biden on July 8 will offer his most extensive comments to date about the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, White House Press Secretary said.

Reported by: Bhavya Sukheja
Biden
IMAGE: AP | Image:self
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US President Joe Biden on July 8 will offer his most extensive comments to date about the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said. Biden will be delivering a major policy speech on Afghan and an update on the drawdown of troops after a meeting with his national security team on the conflict-ridden country. The US President is due to speak at 1:45 pm (local time) amid pressure from critics to give a more expansive explanation for his decision to withdraw. 

Psaki said, “Tomorrow morning, President Biden will meet with his national security team to receive a periodic update on the progress of our military drawdown from Afghanistan”. 

She added, “Early tomorrow afternoon, the President will make comments on our continued drawdown efforts and ongoing security and humanitarian assistance to the ANDSF (Afghan National Defence and Security Forces) and the Afghan people”. 

Further, while speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Psaki explained that one of the reasons that the President made the decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan is because he does not feel there is a military solution for the 20-year war. She said that Biden has long felt that there was not a military solution, but diplomatic negotiations. Psaki went on to also add that the US will continue to provide humanitarian assistance, security assistance. 

“We intend to continue to have a diplomatic presence on the ground in Kabul, even after we bring the servicemen and women home at the end of August. So, that is a mechanism for that,” she said. 

US withdrawal from Afghanistan 

Meanwhile, it is worth mentioning that the US military exit from Afghan before September 11 stems from the February 2020 agreement Washington signed with the Taliban in return for counterterrorism guarantees and pledges the group would negotiate a political settlement to the war with the Afghan government. Last week, the US abandoned Bagram airbase, the longtime staging ground for US military operations in the country. The Pentagon has also said that the withdrawal of US forces is 90 per cent complete. 

However, it is considered the withdrawal comes with many uncertainties as a resurgent Taliban captures ground and fears mount that the country could soon fall into civil war. The US is still working on agreements to base counterterrorism forces in the region and evacuate thousands of interpreters and other Afghans who helped the American war effort. And Miller, who already is the longest-serving commander of US forces in Afghanistan in the 20 years of warfare, will remain in command for a couple of weeks longer but was not more specific. It is also expected to keep at least 650 US military personnel in Afghanistan in order to protect the US embassy and diplomats.

(With inputs from PTI)
 

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Published July 8th, 2021 at 16:58 IST

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