The retreat in Afghanistan: The US begins to withdraw from the longest war New conflicts

The United States formally began withdrawing its last troops from Afghanistan on Saturday, as the longest war was coming to an end, but they predicted an uncertain future for a country plagued by the brave Taliban.

U.S. officials on the ground have said the withdrawal is a work in progress – and that May 1 is just a follow-up – but Washington has raised the issue of the date because the 2020 deadline is agreed with the Taliban.

The skies over Kabul and the nearby air base in Bagram were busy with more U.S. helicopter activity than usual as preparations were prepared for the withdrawal of rumors after NATO’s downturn began on Thursday.

Afghan security forces were on high alert for the withdrawal of U.S. troops on Saturday.

“Americans will formally withdraw from Afghanistan from May 1 and the Taliban could escalate violence,” Acting Interior Minister Hayatullah Hayat told senior police officials, according to an audio clip given to reporters.

Taliban attacks?

Afghan National Security Adviser Hamdullah Mohib said the Taliban could “choose war” in an attempt to seize power after U.S. troops were fully withdrawn, but security forces were ready to take action against the fighters.

The hope of ending the U.S. presence in 20 years is a struggle across the countryside in the absence of a peace agreement.

Hameed Hakimi of Chatham House told Al Jazeera in Cambridge that the withdrawal process is changing the power vacuum and violence around Kabul.

“I think the main immediate concern in the U.S. is that while the Taliban is not being attacked, they are going to be out of here until September,” he said.

“As for the Afghan government, they believe that attacking the Taliban would force them to come to a kind of negotiating table.”

The memorial service came in the evening on Friday with a car bomb south of the capital Pul-e-Alam. killing at least 24 people and 110 wounded.

U.S. President Joe Biden has decided to end what he called a “perpetual war,” and announced last month that the withdrawal of the remaining 2,500 U.S. forces would end on the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

“The horrific attacks 20 years ago … can’t explain why we should be there in 2021,” Biden said.

The Taliban said the withdrawal of U.S. troops would end by May 1, as agreed with Washington last year, and it was a “clear violation” that the troops were not completely out.

In a statement on Saturday, Taliban military spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said that exceeding the May 1 withdrawal deadline “paved the way [Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan] to take all the counter-attacks that the mujahideen deems appropriate against the occupying forces ”.

However, he said the fighters on the battlefield will wait for the decision of the leadership before any attack and that decision will be based on the “sovereignty, values ​​and high interests of the country”.

Since the U.S. withdrawal agreement was reached, the Taliban have not directly engaged foreign troops, but the insurgents have ruthlessly attacked rural government forces and launched a deadly campaign in urban areas.

‘Who are you killing?’

The departure of U.S. forces has only exacerbated the fear felt by ordinary Afghans.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has stressed that government forces – which have carried out most of the ground fighting against the Taliban in months – are “fully capable” of keeping Taliban fighters at bay.

The withdrawal also means that the Taliban has no reason to fight.

“Who are you killing? What are you destroying? Your excuse to fight foreigners is over, ”Ghani said in this week’s speech.

Worst case analysis

Still, General Mark Milley, the head of the United States General Staff, has not ruled out complete chaos.

“In the worst case, you have a potential collapse of the government, a potential collapse of the military,” he said earlier in the week.

“You have the civil war and the humanitarian catastrophe that comes with it.”

The US-led attack began in Afghanistan in October 2001 the 9/11 attacks.

Two decades later – after killing nearly 2,400 Americans and tens of thousands of Afghans – Biden said a definitive withdrawal was justified, as U.S. forces assured that the country could no longer intend to attack foreign aggressors against the West.