NATO to match U.S. troop pullout from Afghanistan

Brussels — NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg says the alliance has agreed to withdraw its roughly 7,000 non-American forces from Afghanistan to match U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to pull all American troops from the country starting on May 1.

Stoltenberg said the full withdrawal would be completed “within a few months” but did not mention the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks set as a goal by Biden. There are between 7,000 and 7,500 non-U.S. NATO troops currently in Afghanistan. The U.S. troop presence stands at roughly 2,000.

“We now have decided to start with withdrawal of all our NATO troops from Afghanistan starting the first of May,” Stoltenberg said Wednesday. “We plan to complete the withdrawal of all our troops within a few months.”

“We went into Afghanistan together, we have adjusted our posture together and we are united in leaving together,” he said. He added that any attacks on withdrawing NATO forces would draw a firm and forceful response from the alliance.

Stoltenberg revealed the decision shortly after Biden formally announced his withdrawal plans and after meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

Blinken and Austin spent the day in talks with senior officials from the alliance’s 30 members to discuss Biden’s decision and NATO’s future in Afghanistan.

“This is not an easy decision, and this is a decision that contains risks and a decision that requires that we continue to stay focused on Afghanistan,” Stoltenberg said. “This is not an end, but the beginning of a new way of dealing with Afghanistan.”

“This is not an easy decision, and this is a decision that contains risks and a decision that requires that we continue to stay focused on Afghanistan. This is not an end, but the beginning of a new way of dealing with Afghanistan.” NATO CHIEF JENS STOLTENBERG