US will cut troop levels in Afghanistan to 'less than 5,000' by November end: Mark Esper

US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said that the United States plans to cut down its troop level in Afghanistan to less than 5,000 by the end of November. In a Fox News interview broadcast on August 8, Esper provided details on the withdrawal plan that US President Donald Trump had announced last week.

In an interview with Axios, Trump had said that the troops’ number in Afghanistan will go down to 4,000, undercutting the assertions of US diplomats that troop reductions would be based on the Taliban’s commitment to peace agreement signed in February. Trump has been advocating for a maximum US troops withdrawal from war zones and even called the US involvement in the Middle East “the single biggest mistake in the history of our country.”

Trump and State Department have been loggerheads over the troop withdrawal plan as diplomats and military officials have been trying to keep the peace process on track. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had said the United States will calibrate the pace of its withdrawal from Afghanistan according to the actions of the Taliban. 

Read: Mark Esper: China Became More Aggressive, Trying To Use COVID-19 For Propaganda Purposes

Read: Esper Says US Considering Troop ‘adjustments’ In South Korea

Condition-based agreement

Speaking in Doha ahead of the signing of a peace deal, Pompeo said that the US will closely watch the Taliban for their compliance with their commitments and calibrate the pace of our withdrawal with their actions. Washington and Kabul, in a joint declaration, had said that the US will reduce the number of its military forces in Afghanistan to 8,600 and implement other commitments of the agreement within 135 days of the declaration and the US-Taliban agreement. 

It had aid that reduction in the number of Coalition forces is subject to the Taliban’s fulfilment of its commitments under the US-Taliban agreement. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had also emphasised that all contents in the agreement are “conditions-based”, adding that the withdrawal of the foreign forces from the region will depend on the Taliban's fulfilment of their commitments.

Read: US: Esper Order Aims To Expand Diversity, Skirts Major Decisions

Read: India, US Reiterate Working Towards Secure Indo-Pacific & Advance Peace In Afghanistan