June 28, (THEWILL) – United States President Joe Biden is set to host Afghan leaders Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah for a meeting at the White House designed to demonstrate a continuing US commitment to Afghanistan as US troops withdraw.
President Biden holds a “fundamental belief” that “after 20 years, it’s time to bring our troops home”, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on Friday in advance of the meeting. “We are doing that in an orderly and timely fashion,” Psaki told reporters at the White House.
The bulk of about 4,000 US soldiers now in Afghanistan will be moved out in the next two weeks, and the US expects to remove American and coalition commanders by July 4, meeting an internal deadline the Pentagon developed months ago, according to The Associated Press news service.
“We are committed to supporting the Afghan people and the Afghan national defence and security forces, even as we continue to undertake a security transition,” Psaki said.
“The president is also going to emphasize during this meeting the need for unity cohesion and for the Afghan government to focus on the key challenges of Afghanistan faces,” she said.
Amid heightened security, President Ghani is scheduled to give remarks at a media conference in Washington, DC after the White House meeting with Biden.
Biden had set a formal deadline for the withdrawal of US and foreign forces from Afghanistan by September 11, the 20th anniversary of the US invasion following the al-Qaeda attacks on New York and Washington, DC.
About 650 US soldiers will remain in Afghanistan to provide security for the US and international diplomats in Kabul after the main American military contingent completes its withdrawal, US officials told the AP.
Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen has told Al Jazeera in an exclusive interview that the armed group has the “right to react” if the US keeps troops in Afghanistan after September 11, when the withdrawal is due to complete.
“If they stay here, then I think it is a kind of continuation of the occupation. They have violated and we fully have the right to react,” Shaheen said.
Several hundred additional US troops will remain at the Kabul airport, potentially until September, to assist Turkish troops providing security there in what the US officials described as a temporary move until a more formal Turkey-led security operation is in place.
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