US will not withdraw from Afghanistan without completing General Milley

Washington: US Defence Chief General Mark Milley announced ‘The main objective of the US campaign in Afghanistan was the elimination of terrorists. This mission is not complete as yet. The US military will not withdraw unless the mission is accomplished.’ It is claimed that this announcement by General Milley is a warning for the Afghan Taliban. The Taliban had demanded a complete US military withdrawal from Afghanistan. But General Milley dismissed the possibility of withdrawal and instead indicated intensifying the counter-terrorism campaign.

Defence Chief General Mark Milley justified the deployment in Afghanistan while talking to a leading news channel in the United States. General Milley claimed that the main objective set for the deployment of the US military in Afghanistan has not been fulfilled until now. At the same time, General Milley stressed the need for cooperation from the Afghanistan government and security forces to attain the objective.

General Milley clarified ‘The United States announced its military campaign in Afghanistan, following the dreadful attacks on 9/11. The United States is carrying on this campaign for the last eighteen years to ensure that Afghanistan does not become a shelter for these terrorists and the US soldiers will be stationed in Afghanistan even in the future, till the objective is attained.’

General Milley delivered a message ‘The US mission in Afghanistan is not completed as yet. To complete the mission, the Afghanistan government and the security agencies will have to strengthen the security systems in the country. The Afghan government and the military will have to take precautions that Afghanistan is not used as a launchpad for terror attacks in the United States and the other countries.’

The country’s government and military are making efforts to free Afghanistan from terrorists. The US Defence Chief said that this will take a little longer and asserted that the US military would not be withdrawn till the time the objective is fulfilled. General Milley said that this US military deployment was important from the United States’ security point of view.

Currently, 14,000 US soldiers are deployed in Afghanistan. Taliban had demanded a few weeks ago that if peace and stability is to be established in Afghanistan, the United States should completely withdraw its military from Afghanistan. But the United States refused to withdraw from Afghanistan accusing that the Taliban had not given up its terrorist activities and was still carrying out attacks. Taliban started targeting the US military bases and soldiers, after that. Against this background, General Milley seems to have issued a warning to the Taliban by disposing of the question of US military withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, senior Taliban commander Waisuddin was killed in action taken by the Afghan military in the Logar region, on Sunday. Commander Waisuddin was the mastermind of the attack carried out in the last week, on Afghan judges. China has organised talks regarding Afghanistan and has invited the Taliban to participate. This seems to have affected the US stance. This has caused the US stand on military withdrawal from Afghanistan to become stringent.