US withdrawal from Afghanistan “slightly ahead” of schedule

The withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan is “slightly aheadOn schedule, Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said Thursday, defending the Defense Department’s budget requests to Congress.

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«I can report to you that the withdrawal is going at a steady pace, in fact slightly ahead», Declared Lloyd Austin in front of the elected representatives of the House of Representatives.

«Our budget will help develop the air capabilities we need to ensure that terrorist attacks against our country never emanate from this country again.“, he added. “We will now move on to new bilateral relations with our Afghan partners», He continued. A relationship “that will continue to help them fulfill their duties to their citizens, but one that will only require a sufficient US military presence to protect our diplomats».

President Joe Biden in April ordered the departure of the 2,500 troops still in the country by September 11, the anniversary of the 2001 attacks that led to the US invasion of Afghanistan. The withdrawal has advanced by 16 to 25%, according to a weekly Pentagon estimate released Tuesday by the US Army Central Command (Centcom).

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