The Pentagon began to develop a plan for the urgent withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan after this happened in Syria, media reported.

So far, Donald Trump has not received a corresponding order, but the US military does not exclude that the hasty withdrawal of the United States Army from the SAR was a rehearsal of similar actions in Afghanistan.

In addition, this issue has been discussed for several months.





The Pentagon is developing a plan for a complete hasty withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan in the event that such a decision is made by US President Donald Trump, the NBC broadcaster said, citing sources in the United States defence department.

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According to the television company, the ministry is preparing for the fact that the order for the withdrawal of US troops may come as unexpectedly as in the situation with Syria.

Washington began hastily withdrawing its troops from the northeast of the SAR when Turkey launched a military operation there. As a result, according to reporters, servicemen left weapons, uniforms and personal items at former US bases. In addition, some of the objects where the ammunition was stored, they simply destroyed.

According to NBC sources, the development of an action plan in the event of the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan is more likely to be preventive in nature and constitutes an example of “reasonable planning,” since there is no talk of preparing such an order. At the same time, one of the channel’s interlocutors expressed the opinion that Trump’s actions against Syria can be considered a “dress rehearsal” of what he is actually preparing for in Afghanistan.

The New York Times reported on the eve that the United States began to gradually reduce its military presence in Afghanistan.

According to the publication, 2 thousand American troops have already been withdrawn from there.

The information that the size of the United States Army in this country decreased to about 12 thousand people, confirmed the commander of the US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, Lieutenant General Austin Scott Miller, the newspaper said.

NYT noted that this happened despite the fact that Washington has not yet reached an agreement with representatives of the Taliban (banned in Russia), which provides for the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. In addition, Afghan and American sources told the publication that the total number of US troops in this country could soon be reduced even to 8.6 thousand people.

On October 20, US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper met with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and discussed with him the fight against terrorism and bilateral relations. The head of the Pentagon assured that the reduction in the number of US troops in the country will occur without prejudice to the anti-terrorist activities of the United States there.

Over the past months, the US has been negotiating with the Taliban to resolve the conflict in Afghanistan. In early September, the head of the American delegation at the talks with the Taliban, Zalmay Khalilzad, said that the preliminary version of the agreement provides for the withdrawal of 5,000 out of about 14,000 US troops stationed in Afghanistan at the initial stage. As a result, the signing of this agreement failed due to the position of the White House.

US President Donald Trump called the negotiations with the Taliban dead, reports The New York Times.

At the same time, he noted that Washington is still planning to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan, and the government in the very near future “will have to take responsibility” for the security of its country.

“Our soldiers are incredible, but they mostly work as police officers. We would like to leave, but we will do it at the right time, ”said the American leader on September 10.

Two days earlier, he had cancelled talks with Taliban leaders and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai after the attack in Kabul. “Unbeknownst to almost everyone, the key Taliban leaders and separately the president of Afghanistan were about to secretly meet with me at Camp David on Sunday. Tonight they were supposed to come to the United States. Unfortunately, in order to create false leverage, they confessed to the attack in Kabul, ”Trump wrote on Twitter. According to him, 12 people were killed as a result of the incident.

Russian President’s Special Representative for Afghanistan and Director of the Second Department of Asia, Russian Foreign Ministry Zamir Kabulov criticized such a decision by the US president and expressed the opinion that it could adversely affect the situation in Afghanistan.

“Since emotions are extremely intense now, at some period, we hope for a short period, the escalation of hostilities may begin,” he told TASS. Kabulov added that Moscow expects the continuation of negotiations and their successful completion.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the end of July noted that so far there are no clear deadlines for the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, but the authorities plan to do this as soon as possible.

“We will reduce our operational activities in Afghanistan as quickly as we can,” he stressed.

The head of the US Foreign Ministry noted that the reduction of the US military presence in Afghanistan should be consistent with the objectives of "ensuring that there is an adequate plan" to eliminate terrorism in Afghanistan.

“Strong Support” is a NATO mission that assists and trains Afghan government forces. It has been held since January 1, 2015, and the US military has been there since 2001 - from the beginning of Operation Enduring Freedom. She was the answer to the September 11 attacks.