US should not withdraw military till Al Qaeda is present in Afghanistan

Washington: General Kenneth McKenzie, Commander of United States Central Command, warned that the United States should not withdraw its military from Afghanistan, till the time Al Qaeda is operational in that country. He was speaking at a video conference organised by a think tank from Washington. Only a few days ago, the United Nations published a report on the conflict in Afghanistan. The report said that there are 600 Al Qaeda operatives in Afghanistan. At the same time, the report clarified that the Taliban was assisting Al Qaeda operatives. General McKenzie has given his advice against this background.

Peace deal was signed between the United States and the Taliban on 29th February. As per this deal, the United States was to withdraw its military from Afghanistan. But there was no reduction in the Taliban attacks, even after the peace deal. Therefore, the United States has given indications to rethink about the decision to withdraw its military.

Al Qaeda is a major threat for the United States. Therefore, General McKenzie has warned that the US military should not be withdrawn, from Afghanistan, till Al Qaeda has a presence in Afghanistan. General McKenzie reminded at this time that as per the US policy, the US military will not be withdrawn, from Afghanistan, till the time the local terrorist organisations stop using Afghan land, for attacks on the United States.

The military analysts have been consistently claiming that although President Trump has announced military withdrawal from Afghanistan, under any circumstances, the US military will not be completely withdrawn from there. At most, President Trump will be able to reduce the deployment of US soldiers in Afghanistan. He can curtail the cost of the military missions in Afghanistan, in this way. As per the military analysts, going beyond this, complete withdrawal of the military from a strategically important country like Afghanistan, is not affordable for the United States. Moreover, the Taliban continuing with the attacks, claims are already being made that the decision made by President Trump for military withdrawal, in being reconsidered. Therefore, US military withdrawal from Afghanistan is not likely to happen soon.