The United States expects to finish withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan by the end of August, officials said Friday, after announcing all American and NATO soldiers had left the conflict-scarred nation’s biggest air base.
Following 20 years of war, US President Joe Biden had set a September 11 deadline for the final pullout of the few remaining soldiers on the ground.
The news Friday that American troops had left Bagram Air Base fueled expectations that the pullout would be completed within days, but White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the troops would be out of the country “by the end of August.”
“The president has long felt… that the war in Afghanistan was not one that can be won militarily,” she told reporters, adding that the United States would continue to provide security systems and humanitarian assistance in the months ahead.
