US Withdrew 3,600 Troops From Afghanistan in 3 Months - Inspectors General

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th November, 2020) The United States pulled 3,600 American service members from Afghanistan, leaving about 5,000 military personnel in the country at the end of September, US inspector generals said on Tuesday.

"The United States met its commitments to reduce the number of troops in Afghanistan to 8,600 and to withdraw from five bases in Afghanistan by July," a press release summarizing the report said. "Since July, the United States continued a steady reduction military personnel, and then-Secretary of Defense Mark Esper stated that the United States would have fewer than 5,000 military members in Afghanistan by the end of November."

The report came from the inspector generals from the Defense and State Departments plus the Agency for International Development (USAID).

The initial withdrawal completed in July followed a US.-Taliban agreement signed on February 29 in Qatar. The subsequent withdrawal in the July-September quarter coincided with September 12 peace talks between the Afghan government and Taliban, also in Qatar, the release added.

The report noted that peace negotiations had stalled by the end of September amid an increase in Taliban attacks against government forces, leading to "distressingly high" levels of violence threatening negotiations.

US media outlets reported on Monday that US military commanders had been told to begin preparations to cut current Afghan deployments in half and to withdraw about 500 troops from about 3,000 now in Iraq.