US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a joint press conference with NATO
said that “it is time to bring our forces home.

Blinking said that we have achieved our goals in the country. This
announcement comes amid a high level of violence in Afghanistan.

“This is an important moment for our alliance. Almost 20 years ago, after
the United States was attacked on 9/11, together, we went into Afghanistan
to deal with those who attacked us, and to make sure that Afghanistan would
not again become a haven for terrorists who might attack any of us,”
Blinken said.

Secretary of State Blinken also hinted that President Joe Biden will soon
speak about the troop’s withdrawal in a few hours.

“I’m here to work closely with our allies, with the secretary-general, on
the principle that we’ve established from the start. In together, adapt
together, and out together,” he added, “We will work very closely
together, in the weeks and months ahead, on a safe, deliberate and
coordinated withdrawal of our forces from Afghanistan,”.

Blinken also mentioned even as NATO and US troops leave, their “commitment
to Afghanistan, to its future, will remain. And we’ll talk about that today
as well”.

This comes as NATO foreign and defense ministers will discuss their plans,
it is also reported that the US, Britain, France, and Germany will hold
talks on Afghanistan.

U.S Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has reportedly arrived in Brussels on
Wednesday ahead of Biden’s announcement on troop’s withdrawal from
Afghanistan by September 11.

Meanwhile, Waheed Omar senior advisor of the president and
Director-General to the Office of Public and Strategic Affairs tweeted,
that Kabul admires Washington’s decisions in regards to troops
withdrawal.

He said that US President Joe Biden and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani will
have detailed discussions based on the foreign troops pull out.

He added that over the past two years, the Afghan army has shown their
best of abilities in conducting operations independently and that 98% of
the security operations currently are being implemented by the Afghan
National Defense and Security Forces.

Taliban on the other hand warned US and NATO forces must stick to the
agreement and should withdraw by May 1st. 

A Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid said, “the Islamic Emirate of
Afghanistan seeks withdrawal of all foreign forces” from Afghanistan on
the specified date on the US-Taliban deal.

He warned that if the agreement has not adhered issues will be complex and
compounded, and those for the breach of the deal will be held responsible
and liable.

Mujahid tweeted, that if the agreement is breached and foreign troops
failed to exit Afghanistan on May 1st, complex and compound issues will
arise.