US military days away from completing Afghanistan withdrawal as last German troops leave
- Withdrawal comes as top US general foresees Afghan civil war
- Last German troops leave Afghanistan after nearly 20 years
The withdrawal of troops and equipment from Afghanistan would not include forces that will remain to protect diplomats at the US embassy and potentially assist securing Kabul airport. US officials have said that embassy presence could be around 650 troops.
The US military stopped publicly detailing the pace of its withdrawal after it was more than 50 per cent complete earlier in June.
But US officials spoke to Reuters on Tuesday about the American troop withdrawal, on condition of anonymity.
The disclosure of the brisk pace of the US withdrawal comes as the Taliban insurgency ramps up its offensive throughout the country. The Pentagon now estimates the Taliban control 81 of the country’s 419 district centres
Hundreds of US troops to secure embassy, Kabul airport
Peace talks in Qatar, meanwhile, have failed to make significant progress.
The Pentagon said earlier on Tuesday that the US withdrawal would not necessarily signify the end of Nato’s Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan, but referred further queries to Nato.
On Tuesday, General Scott Miller, the top US commander in Afghanistan did not rule out conducting air strikes against the Taliban if they pressed on with their campaign.
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Some observers fear the Taliban might once again seize the capital Kabul once the Western troops have left, and have expressed fears for the thousands of Afghans who worked along side the international force.
The withdraw of US-led Nato forces has raised concerns that the country could erupt in full-scale civil war, potentially providing al-Qaeda space in which to rebuild and plan new attacks on US and other targets.
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“A civil war is certainly a path that can be visualised if this continues on the trajectory it’s on right now, that should be of concern to the world,” said General Austin Miller, the top US general in Afghanistan.
A United Nations report in January said there were as many as 500 al-Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan and that the Taliban maintained a close relationship with the Islamist extremist group. The Taliban denies al-Qaeda has a presence in Afghanistan.
It was unclear if the pace of the US withdrawal would still allow first for a planned evacuation of thousands of vulnerable Afghan interpreters and their families, something that had been expected before the US pull-out.
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin was expected on Wednesday to meet his Germany counterpart at the Pentagon. Germany, which had the second largest contingent of troops after the United States in Afghanistan, announced on Tuesday that it had concluded its withdrawal from Afghanistan.
“A historic chapter comes to an end, an intensive deployment that challenged and shaped the Bundeswehr, in which the Bundeswehr proved itself in combat,” German Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said.
On Twitter, the minister offered her thanks to all the 150,000 men and women who had served there since 2001, saying they could be proud of their service.
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And she paid tribute to those killed and wounded in service there. “You will not be forgotten,” she said.
According to the army, 59 German soldiers have been killed since 2001 in the course of their service in Afghanistan.
The last of the troops were airlifted out of their base at Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan on two German A400 Ms and two US C17s.
Before the pull-out began, Germany still had 1,100 soldiers operating as part of the 9,600-strong Nato training and support mission – second only to the US military presence.
Britain, Italy and Turkey also have a significant military presence there, the five countries between supplying 6,000 members of the mission.
Smaller contributors to the force, such as Denmark, Estonia and Spain, have already pulled out their forces.
Germany stepped up its pull-out after Biden announced he was pulling US troops out of the country.
Reuters, Associated Press and Agence France-Presse
