U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), the military body that oversees the Middle East and Central Asia, informed in the Tuesday press release that more than half of American forces had left Afghanistan, but noted that future updates will not be updating specific percentages on the progress of the pullout, claiming the secrecy is necessary fo “operational security.
The statement says that according to U.S. Central Command estimates, more than 50% of the entire retrograde process has been completed with the DoD retrograding the equivalent of approximately 500 C-17 loads of material out of Afghanistan and turning for disposition nearly 13,000 pieces of equipment to the Defense Logistics Agency.
It also said that the U.S. has handed over six facilities to the Afghan Ministry of Defense, announcing additional transfers of bases and military assets in the future.
Former President Donald Trump last year signed a deal with the Taliban that set a U.S. withdrawal deadline for May 1, but Biden’s administration scrapped the agreement when it took power, pushing back the pullout to September 11.
Yet, after a series of phased drawdowns and despite the delay, however, Biden’s Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin claimed last month that the withdrawal is “slightly ahead” of schedule.
In the meantime, Washington maintains it will continue to financially support Afghan National Security Forces, but is leaving unresolved issues regarding how threats in the region will be handled from afar. On top of that, Washington’s facing urgent calls to evacuate Afghans who was working with U.S. forces during the conflict and are now at risk of being hunted down and killed by the Taliban.
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