NATO Allies Agree on Withdrawal from Afghanistan Starting May 1

Withdrawal Begins According to US Military Schedule

(Photo by EPA, Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) announced that its member countries have agreed to begin withdrawing troops from Afghanistan starting next month on the 1st.

According to major foreign media on the 14th (local time), the 30 NATO member countries stated in a declaration that the allied countries have decided to start withdrawing support troops from May 1, and added that they plan to complete the withdrawal of approximately 7,000 NATO troops within a few months.

Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary General, said at a press conference held at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, that the withdrawal of NATO troops in Afghanistan was carried out in line with the decision of U.S. President Joe Biden.

Earlier, U.S. President Joe Biden announced that the withdrawal of U.S. troops stationed in Afghanistan would begin on the 1st of next month and be completed before September 11. This postpones the withdrawal timeline agreed upon by the previous U.S. administration under Donald Trump with the Taliban by about four months.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin visited NATO headquarters on the same day to discuss this directly or via video conference with Secretary General Stoltenberg and foreign and defense ministers of NATO member countries.

Secretary General Stoltenberg said, "We entered Afghanistan together, coordinated our positions, and agreed to leave together."

NATO, which has been stationed in Afghanistan since 2001, is responsible for non-combat missions such as training local forces. Currently, in Afghanistan, there are about 7,000 NATO troops in addition to 2,500 U.S. troops.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.