U.S President Joe Biden will pull out the remaining U.S. military forces from Afghanistan by Sept. 11, CNN reported Thursday.
The withdrawal of around 3,000 American service members is in line with the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon which threw the U.S. into lengthy conflicts in the Middle East and Central Asia.
"We can't continue the cycle of extending or expanding our military presence in Afghanistan, hoping to create ideal conditions for the withdrawal and expecting a different result," The Wall Street Journal quoted Biden as saying Wednesday.
The president is the fourth U.S. president to preside over American military presence in Afghanistan: "two Republicans, two Democrats. I won't pass this responsibility on to a fifth."
The deadline Biden has set is absolute, with no likelihood of being extended based on escalating situations on the ground. After 20 years of conflict, U.S. officials said it was clear to Biden investing more money and resources at Afghanistan's internal problems wasn't doomed to fail, CNN reported.
NATO and Pentagon officials said the Taliban, a hardline armed Islamist movement, have so far failed to live up to their end of the bargain in reducing violence.
Biden said the U.S. had attained its objective of preventing terror attacks on the country from being planned in Afghanistan and that the U.S. must now focus on threats coming from terrorist organizations operating in the Middle East, Europe and Africa.
The wars in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq have cost American taxpayers more than $1.57 trillion since 2001, a U.S. Defense department report said. More than 2,000 U.S. military personnel have lost their lives in Afghanistan.
The U.S. has warned the Taliban that if they attack U.S. troops during the withdrawal phase, "they will be met with a forceful response," a senior U.S. official said in remarks quoted by BBC.
