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US President Joe Biden on Thursday, 8 July, said that the US military mission in Afghanistan will conclude on 31 August, days ahead of his original 11 September deadline.
"In this context, speed is safety," Biden said in his remarks at the White House. "Conducting our drawdown differently would have certainly come with an increased risk of safety to our personnel," he added.
In defending the withdrawal, he noted that the US military had achieved its counter-terrorism objectives in the 20-year war.
Biden reaffirmed that the US will continue providing support to the Afghan government and planned to move Afghan nationals who worked with US forces out of the country to wait for their US visa to be processed.
"Starting this month, we're going to begin relocation flights for Afghanistan SIV (Special Immigrants Visa) applicants and their families who choose to leave," he said.
Biden rejected the collapse scenario on Thursday. "They didn't reach that conclusion," he told reporters, saying he had confidence in the capacity of the Afghan troops.
Meanwhile, the security situation in the war-torn country has deteriorated as Taliban militants continue heavy fighting against government forces and captured about 100 suburban districts out of the country's 400 districts since the drawdown of US troops on 1May.
US Central Command said on Tuesday that the US military had completed over 90 percent of the withdrawal. According to media reports, around 650 troops are expected to remain in the country to provide security for diplomats.
Over 2,400 US troops have been killed in Afghanistan over the past two decades, with 20,000 wounded, according to the Pentagon. Estimates show that over 66,000 Afghan troops have been killed, and over 2.7 million people have had to leave their homes.
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