Biden: US Exit From Afghanistan Won’t Be Finished in Next Few Days
Voice of America
U.S President Joe Biden said Friday that the U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan would not be completed in the next few days, even as U.S. forces have left Bagram Airfield, the main American base in Afghanistan, transferring its control to the Afghan National Security Forces. All Coalition and American troops have departed Bagram Air Base last night. The base was handed over to the ANDSF. ANDSF will protect base and use it to combat terrorism.
For nearly two decades the base, 60 kilometers north of Kabul, served as the center of the U.S. fight to remove Taliban forces from power and take down al-Qaida terrorists responsible for killing thousands of Americans on September 11, 2001. “No,” Biden said Friday when asked by White House reporters if the withdrawal completion was days away. “We’re on track exactly as we expect it to be. I wanted to make sure there was enough ‘running room’ that we wouldn’t be able to do it all till September,” he added, referencing the September 11 deadline he gave for the withdrawal’s completion.Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei performs prayer at a funeral for victims of a helicopter crash that killed Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Abdollahian and others, in Tehran, Iran, May 22, 2024. (West Asia News Agency via Reuters) Mourners attend a funeral for victims of the helicopter crash that killed Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and others, in Tehran, Iran, May 22, 2024. (West Asia News Agency via Reuters) Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, right, offers his condolences to Iran's caretaker president, Mohammad Mokhber, and other officials in Tehran on May 22, 2024. (Iraqi Prime Minister's Press Office via AFP)
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People queue up to vote outside a polling booth during the fifth round of multi-phase national election in Howrah, India, May 20, 2024. A woman carrying her daughter leaves after casting vote in a polling station during the fifth round of multi-phase national elections in Mumbai, India, May 20, 2024.
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