Biden Deploys 5,000 Troops To Save US Personnel In Afghanistan As Taliban Gain More Ground

On Sunday, the Taliban reportedly captured the Afghanistan city of Jalalabad as well as its provincial government in a steady advance towards capturing power in the country.

But the United States President, Joe Biden, has dispatched about 5,000 military personnel to stop the Taliban from harming its citizens and local allies.

AP reports that ” the militants posted photos online early Sunday showing them in the governor’s office in Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province.”

Photos online showed people at the departures terminal of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Recall that the US Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, had directed American citizens to quickly leave the country following rise in insecurity.

THE WHISTLER earlier reported that the U.S. President Joe Biden had on April 14, announced the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, 20 years after containing terrorists’ onslaught against the Afghan Government.

The US military had deployed in response to a 2001 brutal attack on U.S. soil led by Alqaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, believed to have a foothold in the country.

But since the gradual withdrawal of the military ( which will be completed in August 31) , insurgent groups, including the Talibans have captured several cities in the country.

Following the development, Biden issued a statement on Saturday, and gave a strong warning to the Taliban against attacking any of its interest in the country.

Biden also turned down the idea of returning full military presence in the country citing how the U.S. administration had trained over 300,000 Afghan security agents to secure their country.

Part of the White House Statement reads:

“First, based on the recommendations of our diplomatic, military, and intelligence teams, I have authorized the deployment of approximately 5,000 U.S. troops to make sure we can have an orderly and safe drawdown of U.S. personnel and other allied personnel, and an orderly and safe evacuation of Afghans who helped our troops during our mission and those at special risk from the Taliban advance.

“Fourth, we have conveyed to the Taliban representatives in Doha, via our Combatant Commander, that any action on their part on the ground in Afghanistan, that puts U.S. personnel or our mission at risk there, will be met with a swift and strong U.S. military response.

“America went to Afghanistan 20 years ago to defeat the forces that attacked this country on September 11th. That mission resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden over a decade ago and the degradation of al Qaeda. And yet, 10 years later, when I became President, a small number of U.S. troops still remained on the ground, in harm’s way, with a looming deadline to withdraw them or go back to open combat.

“Over our country’s 20 years at war in Afghanistan, America has sent its finest young men and women, invested nearly $1 trillion dollars, trained over 300,000 Afghan soldiers and police, equipped them with state-of-the-art military equipment, and maintained their air force as part of the longest war in U.S. history. One more year, or five more years, of U.S. military presence would not have made a difference if the Afghan military cannot or will not hold its own country. And an endless American presence in the middle of another country’s civil conflict was not acceptable to me.”