The United States will reduce the number of its troops deployed in Afghanistan to 2,500 in January 2021, the smallest American contingent in two decades of war, the Pentagon announced on Tuesday (November 17), following Donald Trump's campaign pledge to put a end to "endless wars".
About 2,000 troops will withdraw from Afghanistan by January 15, and 500 more will leave Iraq leaving only 2,500 troops in each country, new acting defense minister Christopher Miller said.
The withdrawal will come as Donald Trump, defeated in the presidential election by Democrat Joe Biden, cedes power on January 20.
This decision reflects the wish of the American president "to end successfully and responsibly the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and to bring our courageous soldiers home", as the current tenant of the White House put it.
Before the Pentagon's announcement, several US and foreign officials warned against a hasty and total withdrawal that would favor terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State organization.
The leader of the Republican majority in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, had estimated Monday that the United States would "abandon" its allies by withdrawing too quickly.
For NATO, Afghanistan could "once again become a base for international terrorists".
US forces "remain committed to protecting the security of the American people and supporting our allies and partners around the world," said Christopher Miller.
Since the launch of military offensives in Afghanistan in 2001 and then in Iraq two years later, more than 6,900 American soldiers have died and more than 52,000 have been wounded in these two theaters of war, according to the Pentagon.
With AFP
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