User:Lego Iready/sandbox
Withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, completed on 30th August 2021 / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The United States Armed Forces completed their withdrawal from Afghanistan on 30 August 2021, marking the end of the 2001–2021 War in Afghanistan. The withdrawal took place in the context of the Doha Agreement (formally titled the Agreement for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan),[7] signed in February 2020 by the Trump administration and the Taliban without participation by the Afghan government, which provided for the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Afghanistan, in return for a Taliban pledge to prevent al-Qaeda from operating in areas under Taliban control, and future talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government for a permanent ceasefire.[8]
This is the user sandbox of Lego Iready. A user sandbox is a subpage of the user's user page. It serves as a testing spot and page development space for the user and is not an encyclopedia article. Create or edit your own sandbox here. Other sandboxes: Main sandbox | Template sandbox Finished writing a draft article? Are you ready to request review of it by an experienced editor for possible inclusion in Wikipedia? Submit your draft for review! |
2020–2021 withdrawal of United States troops from Afghanistan | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) | |||||||
US airmen board a C-17 at Al Udeid Air Base during the withdrawal, 27 April 2021 | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
Australia | |||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Joe Biden Donald Trump Lloyd Austin Mark Esper Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr. Austin S. Miller |
Hibatullah Akhundzada Abdul Ghani Baradar | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Summer 2021: 13 killed (11 Marines, 1 Navy corpsman, 1 Soldier) | Unknown | ||||||
Afghan civilian casualties (Summer 2021):[6] 100+ killed 100+ wounded |
As part of the Doha Agreement, the Trump administration agreed to an initial reduction of US forces from 13,000 to 8,600 troops by July 2020, followed by a complete withdrawal by 1 May 2021, if the Taliban kept its commitments.[9] At the start of the Biden administration, there were 2,500 US soldiers in Afghanistan and in April Biden said the US would not begin withdrawing these soldiers before 1 May, but would complete the withdrawal by 11 September.[10][11] The Taliban began a final offensive on 1 May. On 8 July, Biden specified a new completion date of 31 August.[12] Biden considered but rejected extending the withdrawal deadline beyond 31 August.[13] There were about 650 US troops in Afghanistan in early August 2021, tasked with protecting Kabul International Airport and the US embassy.[14][15] US intelligence assessments estimated as late as July that Kabul would fall within months or weeks following withdrawal of all American forces from Afghanistan, though the security situation deteriorated rapidly.[16][17]
On 12 August, following continued Taliban victories across Afghanistan, the Biden administration announced that 3,000 U.S. troops would be deployed to Kabul International Airport to secure the evacuation of embassy personnel, U.S. nationals and SIV applicants.[18][19] With the rapid advance of the Taliban in the provinces, on 14 August the US increased its troop commitment to 5,000.[20] On 15 August, with the fall of Kabul, another 1,000 troops were deployed,[21] and on 16 August, another 1,000 troops were deployed, bringing the total number of troops to 7,000. The last US military planes left Kabul airport at 11:59 p.m. Kabul time on 30 August 2021.[22]
US Forces Afghanistan Forward was established on July 7, 2021, as a successor command overseeing the evacuation of all US diplomatic, security, advisory, and counter-terrorism personnel remaining in the country after the withdrawal of US troops. The US also launched Operation Allies Refuge to airlift to the United States translators and selected Afghan citizens considered at risk of reprisals. However, after the fall of Kabul to the Taliban on 15 August 2021, the operation to evacuate all Americans, eligible Afghans, and other NATO nationals was accelerated. NATO's Resolute Support Mission concluded on 12 July 2021.[23]
Following the U.S. withdrawal, around one thousand U.S. citizens and Afghans holding U.S. or other visas were held up by the Taliban with the U.S. government not authorizing their departure.[24][25] On 28 and 29 September 2021, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley and United States Central Command (CENTCOM) commander Gen. Frank McKenzie were among the numerous Defense Department officials who denied during Congressional testimonies President Biden's previous claim that his decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan was because of advice from senior U.S. military leaders and stated that they had in fact advised him to keep some troops in Afghanistan.[26][27]