Here is why August 31 deadline was set for US troops withdrawal from Afghanistan

US President Joe Biden stated on Tuesday that he hopes to have all US soldiers out of Afghanistan by August 31, stopping a major two-week airlift that risks leaving prospective evacuees behind. Former President Donald Trump agreed with Taliban rebels in February 2020 to remove all US soldiers from Afghanistan by May 1, 2021. Biden ordered a review when he entered office in January, and on April 14, he announced a four-month extension to Trump's timeline. He stated that US and NATO soldiers would "leave Afghanistan before the 20th anniversary of that awful September 11 attack."

The priority was to remove the remaining 2,500 US troops, thousands of NATO military, and 16,000 civilian contractors in the nation. Critics have expressed concern that the simultaneous withdrawal of the United States and commemorations of the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks will create a negative image. Washington also intended to give the Afghan government more time to plan its counter-terrorist operations, including transferring over formerly US-controlled facilities and equipment to Afghan forces.

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Washington and NATO allies anticipated Afghan forces to stifle, if not completely halt, the Taliban onslaught against them. According to US intelligence, government troops should have held out for at least six months after the US leaves. The State Department anticipated that the delay would allow US citizens to depart and tens of thousands of Afghans and their families who fought as US soldiers and were given special immigrant visas to resettle in the States.

Instead, Afghan soldiers could not resist the attack, and the Taliban took one provincial seat after another in July and August, marching into Kabul on August 15.  The astounding rapidity of the triumph triggered a terrified flight by tens of thousands of Afghans and foreigners, including diplomatic employees. The US military sent hundreds of troops on August 14 to assume control of Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport in preparation for a major airlift.

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By Tuesday, the total number of evacuees from the United States and other countries had exceeded 71,000 since August 14, with more than 21,000 having been flown out in the previous 24 hours. However, hundreds remained, both inside and outside the airport, handicapped by delayed processing and growing difficulties in accessing the airport due to the Taliban's blockades of Afghans attempting to flee.

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• Afghanistan
• Kabul
• Taliban
• US troops
• Joe Biden
• Donald Trump