Withdrawal from Afghanistan has been achieved by at least 30%, the Pentagon announced

Defence Redefined

Published on 02/06/2021 at 08:14

The US withdrawal from Afghanistan, which is expected to be completed by September 11, has accelerated significantly over the past week, and has taken place by at least 30 to 44%, according to the Pentagon’s weekly estimate released yesterday.

Since President Joe Biden ordered the withdrawal in April, the Americans have withdrawn from the country material equivalent to the payload of 300 C-17 transport aircraft, according to the US Central Command. They also handed over to the Pentagon more than 13,000 pieces of equipment that are to be destroyed.

These data show a great withdrawal acceleration, which officially began on May 1st. The previous estimate, published on May 25, reported material equivalent to a payload of 160 C-17s and 10,000 items to be destroyed, i.e. 16 to 25% of the withdrawal process. The Central Command said it had also handed over control of six facilities to the Afghan Ministry of Defence, one more than last week.

The US military does not want to be specific about the speed of its withdrawal and its final date in order to “protect the security of operations”, but Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin said last week that the operations were “slightly ahead” in relation to the schedule.

The US Department of Defence is expected to withdraw the last 2,500 troops and 16,000 civilian subcontractors by September 11, the anniversary of the 2001 attacks that led to the US invasion. An Afghan security source told AFP today that the US military would return its main military base in the country, Bagram, about 50km northeast of Kabul, to the Afghans by June 20.

However, the complete withdrawal of US forces could be delayed by the removal operations of Afghan interpreters who helped the coalition and who fear for their lives after the withdrawal of foreign forces.

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Source: CNA