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WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden on Saturday approved an additional 1,000 US troops for deployment in Afghanistan and increased the number of US troops to approximately 5,000 to ensure Biden made an “orderly and safe withdrawal” of American and Allied personnel ensured.
US forces will also help evacuate Afghans who worked with the military during nearly two decades of war.
The last-minute decision to return thousands of US troops to Afghanistan reflected the poor state of security when the Taliban took control of several Afghan cities within a few days. The militant and fundamentalist movement gained control of important parts of the country it ruled until it was ousted by the US and coalition forces after the 9/11 attacks. Before April 20, Biden had
Biden attributed much of the chaos that unfolded in Afghanistan to former President Donald Trump’s efforts to end the war.
“When I came into office, I inherited a deal that was cut by my predecessor – which the Taliban told the Taliban about on the eve of the 11th in a statement on Saturday. “I was the fourth president to head an American troop presence in Afghanistan – two Republicans, two Democrats. I would not and will not pass this war on to a fifth. “
In his statement, Biden did not explain the collapse of the 5,000 soldiers he believed were deployed. But a defense official said in a media statement that the president endorsed Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s recommendation that the 82nd Airborne Brigade Combat Team’s lead battalion assist with the State Department’s exit.
Initially, 1,000 soldiers were deployed to aid the withdrawal, and administrators were quick to find that number was insufficient. An additional contingent of marines arrived in Kabul as part of a 3,000-strong force tasked with securing an airlift for US embassy personnel and Afghan allies as Taliban insurgents approached the outskirts of the capital. The additional 1,000 soldiers approved on Saturday appeared to bring the total to 5,000.
Officials have stressed that the newly arriving troops’ mission has been limited to supporting the airlift by embassy staff and Afghan allies, and they expected to complete it by the end of the month. But they may have to stay longer if the embassy threatens a Taliban takeover of Kabul by then.
As a sign of fears that the Taliban might soon take Kabul, US embassy staff urgently destroyed sensitive documents, according to two US military officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the situation.
As the situation in Afghanistan deteriorated rapidly, Biden, who was spending the weekend at Camp David, and Vice President Kamala Harris held a secure videoconference with national security officials on Saturday morning before Biden announced the additional troops.
On Saturday, the Taliban captured Mazar-e-Sharif, a large, heavily defended city in northern Afghanistan and joined Kabul by capturing Logar province in the south. The Taliban have made great strides in the past few days, including capturing Herat and Kandahar, the country’s second and third largest cities.
“Your actions clearly appear to be trying to isolate Kabul,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said, referring to the Taliban’s rapid and efficient destruction of key provincial capitals last week.
Biden had given the Pentagon until August 31 to complete the withdrawal of 2,500 to 3,000 troops in Afghanistan when he announced in April that he would end US involvement in the war. That number has dropped to just under 1,000, and all but about 650 should be gone by the end of the month; the 650 were to remain to protect the US diplomatic presence, including aircraft and defensive weapons, at Kabul airport.
But the recent decision to deploy 4,000 new soldiers indicated that American forces and their allies were in danger. Resumption of war was not discussed, but the number of troops needed for security will depend on decisions about keeping the embassy open and the extent of a Taliban threat to the capital in the coming days.
That the August 31 deadline has passed with thousands of US troops in the country could be problematic for Biden, who said he did not regret having ended the US war by that date. Republicans criticized the withdrawal as a mistake and poorly planned, although there was little political appetite on the part of either party to send new troops into the fight against the Taliban.
The president said Saturday that his administration had told Taliban officials in Qatar that any action in Afghanistan that harms US personnel will be met with a “swift and strong” military response. Biden also directed Foreign Minister Antony Blinken to support Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and work with regional leaders to reach a political settlement with the Taliban.
Ghani made a televised address on Saturday, his first public appearance since the recent Taliban gains, and pledged not to give up on the “accomplishments” of the 20 years since the US overthrew the Taliban.
Despite the Taliban’s achievements, the Biden government said the air force and the outnumbered Afghan security forces could give them an advantage over the insurgents. The statement served to highlight the lack of morale in the Afghan armed forces in a situation where the Taliban appear to be moving too fast.
The State Department said the embassy in Kabul would remain partially occupied and functional, but Thursday’s decision to evacuate significant numbers of workers indicated concerns about protecting American and Afghan lives while the Taliban penetrated the country. The Biden government has not publicly ruled out a complete evacuation of the embassy or a possible relocation of embassy operations to Kabul airport.
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Associated Press Writer James LaPorta contributed to this report.
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