The Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist organization and Taliban is currently witnessing a fall in Syria and Afghanistan due to continuous bombing by the US-led coalition armed forces. Therefore, taking a cognizance into this, the United States President Donald Trump has decided to pull a significant number of troops from Afghanistan.
This comes a day after Trump announced the withdrawal of US troopers from Syria. On a condition of anonymity, the official said, “That decision has been made. There will be a significant withdrawal.”
According to the official sources, Trump made his decision on Tuesday, the same time he told the Pentagon he wanted to pull all US forces out of Syria. Trump had said his instinct was to get out of Afghanistan.
Due to the decision of Trump, Defence Secretary Jim Mattis resigned. He said that his views were no longer reconcilable with Trump’s. Mattis and other top military advisors last year persuaded Trump to commit thousands of new troops to Afghanistan, where the Taliban were slaughtering local forces in the thousands and making major gains.
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported that more than 7,000 troops would be returning from Afghanistan. It is to be noted that currently, the United States has about 14,000 troops in Afghanistan working either with a NATO mission to support Afghan forces or in separate counter-terrorism operations.
Also Read: US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis resigns over Trump’s Syria, Afghanistan move