Washington
The US withdrawal of more troops from Afghanistan will depend on a reduction in violence there, the Pentagon’s top general said in an interview broadcast on Monday. He said other conditions agreed in February with the Taliban must be complied with. Five days after President Donald Trump said he wants US forces “home by Christmas,” Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley stressed to NPR radio that pulling out the final 4,500 troops depends on the Taliban reducing attacks and advancing peace talks with the Kabul government. “The whole agreement and all of the drawdown plans are conditions-based,” Milley told NPR. “The key here is that we’re trying to end a war responsibly, deliberately, and to do it on terms that guarantee the safety of the US vital interests at stake in Afghanistan.”—AFP
