Donald Trump, President of the United States, is planning to withdraw around 7000 US troops stationed in Afghanistan, reported the Washington Post.
The report added that, roughly half of the troops present in the country, could go back home within months. The report further added that the move, many of Trump’s senior advisers and military officials have warned will plunge the country further into chaos.
The order comes a day after Trump claimed that US has defeated ISIS in Syria and ordered the withdrawal of troops from the country.
A statement from a Kurdish-led alliance warned it would create a vacuum whereby the depleted Islamic State (IS) group could “revive itself”, the BBC said.
The reported stressed that the potential move was being met with opposition by some of Trump’s senior cabinet officials, including outgoing White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and White House national security adviser John Bolton.
Republican senator Lindsey Graham tweeted that any withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan would be a “high risk strategy” which could reverse US progress in the region and pave the way toward a “second 9/11”.
Trump had repeatedly before his election campaign in 2016, publicly advocated leaving Afghanistan — where US forces have been since 2001.
However, in 2017 he indicated he would keep boots on the ground in the country indefinitely to prevent the country’s collapse amid a Taliban resurgence.
