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IPFS News Link • Afghanistan

Taliban Warns All Foreign Troops Must Leave By September 11th Deadline

• https://news.antiwar.com by Dave DeCamp

Amid reports that the US plans to leave a sizable force in Afghanistan, the Taliban is warning that any foreign troops who don't leave the country by the September 11th withdrawal deadline set by President Biden will be viewed as occupiers and will be at risk of being attacked.

Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen made the warning in comments to BBC. "If they leave behind their forces against the Doha agreement then in that case it will be the decision of our leadership how we proceed," he said. "We would react and the final decision is with our leadership."

Reports say the US wants to leave somewhere between 650 and 1,000 troops to guard the US embassy in Kabul and help Turkey occupy the Kabul airport. The US portrays this plan as necessary to provide security for its diplomatic staff. But Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin approved a new embassy-based military command structure, and the Pentagon has made it clear the US presence after September 11th would go far beyond embassy security.


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